Hurricane recovery centers in New Jersey will remain open until April 1
TRENTON — Six federal disaster recovery centers that were scheduled to close by the end of this week will remain open now that the deadline for Hurricane Sandy survivors to file for assistance has been extended to April 1, federal officials said today.
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Brick FEMA Disaster Recovery Center to Close Fri.
5 in the wake of Superstorm Sandy, the Chambers Bridge office saw 6,012 visits from local residents, making it one of the busiest recovery centers. But now, because fewer residents are making appointments and seeking assistance there, FEMA is closing …
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Toms River FEMA Disaster Recovery Center to Close Saturday
Since it's opening after Hurricane Sandy, the 953 Fischer Blvd. office saw more than 9,500 visits from locals, making it one of the busiest recovery centers. After scheduling slows, the offices announce they are closing and divert those seeking …
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Student group partners with local recovery center
The Great Lakes Recovery Center offers treatment for people with behavioral health or substance abuse issues. College students have a wealth of resources at their fingertips, and one organization is doing their part to pass along the knowledge and …
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Warren County schools participate in National Drug Facts Week
National Drug Facts Week is an opportunity for teens to shatter the myths about drugs and drug abuse. In community and school events all over America, teens and experts came together for an honest conversation about how drugs affect the brain, body and …
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Harton promotes heart month, drug-free work place
He also discussed startling facts on drug use in the United States and statistics on workplace substance abuse. After the luncheon, Wheaton spoke with numerous local employers who were interested in taking steps necessary to becoming Tennessee Drug …
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Canadian military abandoning soldiers at home
Take the case of Shaun and Sheila Fynes and their son, Cpl. Stuart Langridge. His story is a spiral from a decorated, successful soldier to depression, despair, drug and alcohol abuse and, finally, his tragic, lonely suicide by hanging in March 2008 at …
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Peru seeks to prevent drug use among college students
The survey, which was published by the Community of Andean Nations (CAN) and presented in the nation's capital earlier this month, reported 29.2% of drug users showed symptoms of abuse or addiction. Of all of the drugs consumed by college students, …
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Drug addiction grows by over 1000 in Azerbaijan
According to Asif Kengerli, addictions psychiatrist of the anonymous substance abuse medical-consulting office under the Republican Narcology Center of the Health Ministry, 90-95 percent of the injecting drug consumers are hepatitis C carriers, and all …
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Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong opens up about addiction: Biggest celeb …
Another day, another celebrity addiction confession. "I couldn't predict where I was going to end up at the end of the night," Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong tells Rolling Stone of the alcohol and prescription drug abuse that led him to rehab …
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Question by Danyel: What type of education would I need to become an RN at a substance abuse detox facility?
I am currently going to school for pre-health with a nursing concentration, until I have the requirements to apply for nursing. I would like to be able to work as an RN in a substance abuse facility. I was wondering if anyone could give me any advise as to how to go about doing this? I do not know if I will need to specialize in a certain area in order to do so or not? If anyone could help me out in regards to what to do education wise I would really appreciate it! Thanks!

Best answer:

Answer by MeMeMe
Hi,

First off, good for you for wanting to work in addiction treatment! I’m an addictions counselor and have been working in mental health (mostly suicide prevention) for 7 years and we certainly need more qualified RNs in the field. So I think you will have an easy time finding work once you’re finished with school.

As for your question… To become an RN, you need to go to nursing school. Although I’m sure you already know this. As for specializing in addiction treatment, I don’t believe there are any additional requirements, but it would be good if you have experience working with addicts or at least a greater knowledge of treating clients with addiction. So I would suggest trying to get an internship of some sort with a treatment center in your area. They may not let you do much while you’re in school, but you will be able to put it on your resume. You can learn a lot from observing how things work in treatment. The other suggestion I have would be to take some extra classes that focus on substance abuse. Drug addicts and alcoholics face a variety of special issues separate from the “normal” population you would be working with in a hospital. Most community colleges and some universities now offer programs where you can learn more about these issues. I don’t know where you live, but you may want to start looking for college programs titled “Addictions Counseling” or “Addictions Studies.” Classes you may want to take would be any type of pharmacology, a bloodborne pathogens/infectious disease class, and even alternative treatments to addiction classes. It could also help to take a few classes for addictions counselors like group therapy, individual therapy, or something similar. These will definitely help you in the future in terms of communicating with your clients.

The most important thing I would think an RN working in addiction should have to be educated about is prescription drugs of abuse. Normally when I do an intake on a client coming into treatment, they have been medically prescribed multiple addictive drugs that only contribute to and exacerbate their disease (addiction). Usually these include opiate painkillers, benzodiazepines, and other sedatives and tranquilizers. I had a client once who was on NINE different benzos which she had been on for years, all prescribed by doctors for things like insomnia, anxiety, and even hypothyroidism. This is so egregious and disgusting to me! They were killing her. She obviously had to be medically detoxed for risk of seizures and death from her meds. And needless to say, after being evaluated by our MD, she didn’t NEED any of the pills.

Anyway, I’m rambling. Just excited to see someone wanting to help in the field of addiction treatment. It is rare these days, it seems. But what a satisfying and rewarding job. Good luck to you!!!

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A Forever Recovery: Adderall Abuse Should Encourage Prescriber Reform
BATTLE CREEK, MI–(Marketwire – Feb 25, 2013) – According to the staff at A Forever Recovery — a leading drug and alcohol rehabilitation center in Battle Creek, Michigan — prescription drug abuse is a problem that Americans fail to acknowledge …
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Recovering drug addict shares story of struggle, hope
LOUISA, Ky (WYMT) – Whether it's prescription pills, meth, cocaine, or heroine, drug addiction shows no discrimination. Bekah Deahl has a masters degree in social work, but she hid her addiction from the rest of the world until it spiraled out of control.
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Delray Recovery Center Treats Steroid and Performance Enhancing Drug Abuse
Delray Recovery Center is a Florida addiction treatment facility that offers individualized treatment plans for drug addiction, alcohol addiction, eating disorders and co-occurring disorders that include anxiety, depression and bipolar disorder. The …
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Duchess Catherine to Meet Recovering Drug Addicts
Britain's Duchess Catherine is to meet women recovering from substance abuse. The 31-year-old royal – who is currently expecting her first child with husband Prince William – will visit the treatment centre at London's Hope House later this month, …
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Prevention efforts focused on youth reduce prescription abuse into adulthood
All of these interventions addressed general risk and protective factors for substance abuse rather than specifically targeting prescription drug abuse. In follow-up questionnaires and telephone interviews completed at 17-25 years of age, students …
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C. Everett Koop, Forceful US Surgeon General, Dies at 96
In two cases involving infants, identified as Baby Doe and Baby Jane Doe, those who favored government intervention to save a disabled child were pitted against liberals, libertarians and medical groups who argued that parents had the right to withhold …
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