Worksite Monitors Protect Patients From Unsafe Nursing Practices

Worksite monitoring allows the nurse in early recovery from substance abuse disorder to successfully reenter nursing practice while ensuring public protection from unsafe nursing practice. Specialized education for nurse supervisors who monitor nurses in disciplinary or alternative-to-discipline programs is a necessary component of public protection. Such education provides additional value to nurse administrators because it improves supervisor knowledge and skill while reducing stigma, and it provides additional value to regulators because it increases the supervisor's effectiveness when intervening in nurse performance problems. This article outlines the role worksite monitors play in the success of nurses in monitoring programs, reviews methods by which knowledge and skills can be provided to worksite monitors, and identifies practical and empirically supported supervisory processes and skills that can help the worksite monitor be more effective.