Brief History of PAPIN

Prepared for September 25, 2010 Educational Training Meeting

South Carolina Nurses Association

Prepared by Judith Thompson, SCNA Executive Director

Mid 1980’s there was a new awareness of the issues of addictions disease and the effects on the profession of nursing

  • Laws in many states, including SC, made it not only a crime to practice in an impaired condition, but also a crime to have addictions disease
  • SCNA and representatives of the State Board of Nursing for South Carolina met together for many months to work out a plan to ameliorate this situation
  • Education plans were created and speakers from the Peer Assistance Committee began work to educate nurses, SCNA members, members of the General Assembly, and hospital administrators across SC
  • At the same time a committee was formed to offer a range of services to nurses with addictions disease. The committee included registered nurses with expertise in psychiatric and mental health nursing, as well as expertise in addictions disease, and registered nurses who were in active recovery processes. The services included: education, peer support groups, and even interventions for nurses in need of residential care. All services were provided by volunteers and were at no cost to the nurses being assisted. The work of the peer assistance committee was extremely confidential. It was the only committee in the SCNA structure that did not require approval by the SCNA Board of Directors for membership. Membership on the committee was determined strictly by the current committee members who screened all participants very carefully for inclusion in the committee.
  • Some funds to support the work of the committee were from SCNA and others were from honoraria of committee members who donated these funds to the South Carolina Nurses Foundation to aid in the work being done.
  • After many months of meetings and planning, a bill was prepared to submit to the General Assembly to remove the language that criminalized the condition of having addictions disease. The new law spelled out that that “engaging in the practice of nursing when judgment or physical ability is impaired by alcohol, drugs, or controlled substances or has declined or been unsuccessful in accomplishing rehabilitation” would be one of the grounds for discipline of licensees by the Board of Nursing.
  • Following the passage of this bill, further work continued to educate nurses about this new law, what it meant to them and how SCNA could assist in recovery for those in need of this service.
  • Several years after the change in the law, changes began to be made to the structure of state government. Among the changes was the one that created the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation, which would eventually house all boards for professions and occupations licensing.
  • After the creation of LLR, a called group of participants was gathered to discuss the concept then being employed in Florida for a special structure either in state government / licensing boards or outside of this structure to work with those licensed professionals with issues of addiction disease or other issues having to do with chemical dependency, etc. After several years, the Recovering Professionals Program (RPP) was established. SCNA participated in many hours of meetings and State Board of Nursing meetings as RPP was created and then slowly implemented.
  • Support for RPP was established by addition of a fee added to the then annual license fees and now biennial license fees. SCNA participated in the advisory committee set up to assist in overseeing the RPP program. Nursing was represented by Kathy Pearson form SCNA and Sylvia Whiting from the SBON.
  • RPP has been housed in several agencies of state government and now resides in the LRADAC in Columbia. There have been several staff officers for the program and the latest Program Director is Frank Sheheen.
  • SCNA’s PAPIN has been involved in each step of the progress of the RPP.
  • THE PAPIN has had groups in several areas of the state. All have been led by volunteers.
  • As time went by, many of the early volunteers from SCNA to the PAPIN have retired, moved, or moved on to other important issues in nursing.
  • As the population of persons in need of groups such as PAPIN has grown, a new emphasis was necessary for SCNA participation in the managing of the groups. Indeed one part of the recovery process may be attendance at a PAPIN group.
  • Work began in 2009 to work with the current PAPIN Chair to revitalize the program at SCNA. The Psychiatric/Mental Health Chapter of SCNA, under the leadership of Peggy Dulaney, working with the PAPIN Chair and the RPP staff, has been supplying great assistance as this process has moved forward.
  • The real kick-off for the work that has been taking place is September 25, 2010 when the first group leader education session will be held at SCNA. This program set the stage for the next steps in working to ensure that there are consistent, high-quality groups around South Carolina for nurses who need them to attend.
  • This commitment to serve nurses is a great one. The SCNA Board of Directors has been aware of the work that has been going on and has been most supportive of the efforts of all volunteers of SCNA for this program.