An Unlikely Addict

Book excerpt: This book is a summary of my life. Sounds simple enough, but it was not simple to write. I am an alcoholic and a drug addict, I am also a nurse. I lost everything to my drug addiction. I stole my drugs from the hospital where I worked and when they found out my downfall began. But that is only the beginning. My recovery is the real story. There is a huge and growing problem of alcohol and drug addiction among healthcare professionals. It's time we started talking about it. We put our patients and coworkers at risk. We put ourselves at risk. The problem is taboo and nobody wants to talk about it. I want to talk about it. I want to help stop this insidious disease from continuing to infect our entire healthcare system.