Transcript Narrated Slide Show for Employers Hiring or Considering Hiring

Texas Peer Assistance
Program (TPAPN): Ensuring a Good Fit
 Board
of Nursing (BON)
approved
 Alternative,
voluntary
program for LVNs & RNs
 Offers
recovery
 Returns
practice
nurses back to
To help employers and potential employers of TPAPN
nurses understand how TPAPN fosters a positive and
safe work environment for participating nurses and
enhances patient safety.

Approved under Texas Health
and Safety Code

Available to eligible nurses
who may benefit from Peer
Assistance Services

Nurse can self-report or be
referred by a third party

Voluntary; may withdraw at
any time

Provide information and
support for referred nurses

Monitor nurse participants’
work performance, program
compliance and progress in
recovery

Liaison between nurse
participants, treatment
providers, employers and
Advocates

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Educate nurse participants about TPAPN and recovery
Provide 1:1 peer support
Assist participants with enrollment and work processes, as
needed
Provide education to nursing supervisors and coworkers
“With my new sense of selfworth and improved nursing
practice, I am living proof that
TPAPN works.”
– Nurse Graduate
“Becoming an Advocate was
never a question for me; it was
and continues to be a gift. It is
one way I can give back what
was so freely given to me.”
– TPAPN Advocate
Review employer slide show
 Confirm nurse submitted
employer consent
 Contact TPAPN Case
Manager for job approval
 Hold Work Agreement
meeting with nurse to
complete forms
 Fax completed forms to
TPAPN (512-467-2620) and
allow nurse to begin work

 Assign
a nurse/coworker to administer
participants abusable medications and
discuss exchange of duties
 Develop
plan to
accommodate
participants drug
testing
During the first six months participants
agree not to:
Take on call duty
Administer, count,
witness wastage,
receive abusable or
controlled substances
from pharmacy or authorize prescriptions for
controlled substances
TPAPN participants agree NOT to:
Function in an autonomous or unsupervised role
Work shifts longer than 12 hours
Work for multiple employers or be self-employed
Work in short-term staffing or work as a traveler
Float outside of assigned area
Work over 96 hours in two week pay period
Work at various practice sites, unless approved
 Learning and
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accountability
Openness and fairness
Systems to enhance
patient safety
Proactive incentives to
decrease at-risk behaviors
Coach or counsel as appropriate
A punitive system creates barriers to reporting
and keeps impaired nurses from getting help
 Civil
immunity is afforded those who employ
a TPAPN nurse and adhere to the terms of
the TPAPN Work Agreement
 The cost of recruiting and training new staff
outweighs the cost of retention
 Dismissing a nurse without charges of
misconduct leaves the nurse free to seek
work elsewhere and risks harm to patients
or themselves