Model Guidelines for Alternative Programs and Discipline Monitoring Programs

In early 2008, the National Council of State Boards of Nursing appointed a nine-member committee to review discipline and alternative programs and recommend regulatory practices for licensees with substance use disorders. There were many accomplishments, including national surveys of both alternative and discipline monitoring programs. Best practices from the surveys were gradually extrapolated from the surveys and reviewed in a national forum, with feedback included in the final draft of the Model Guidelines for Alternative Programs and Discipline Monitoring Programs developed by the committee and presented in this article. These Guidelines provide practical and evidence-based direction for evaluating, treating, monitoring, and managing health-care professionals with substance use disorders so that the public can be assured that nurses in these programs are safe to practice. The Guidelines also set benchmarks for standardization and performance and quality measures for alternative and discipline monitoring programs.