robina

I ask myself that. Was it my business to report him? that's why I posted here, because in my mind there was no cut and dried answer.

His drinking was not causing immediate physical danger to anyone - it's not that kind of job.

But what about the message it was sending to the clients we work with (young people) as well as the fact that his co-workers were forced to work with someone who was temporarily incapacitated by booze? Don't our clients deserve a professional atmosphere when they come here? (these are some of the questions I asked myself)

All I know is I walked in the room, I smelled booze from 10 feet away, and I made a decision. From this point forward, his situation is out of my hands. I now know that if things continue to deteriorate for him, at least I can say I exercised due diligence.

embraced2000

hi robina
i work in the lodging industry. when i have an intoxicated person come in the office to check in, my bristles still come up. it brings back stuff. and i don't have any tolerance for the drunken behaviors of others. i consider it being good to myself to get out of the situation as quickly as possible. check them in or get rid of them. usually i get rid of them by saying .....sorry...no room at the inn!!!! i know if i check them in, their behaviors will be disruptive to those other guests that have paid money for a good nights sleep after a hard days work. i used to feel guilty for not renting to them......but no more. i have choices about who i rent to, and i choose not to rent to disruptive, actively drinking alcoholics. see, this action is "right for me". others may see my decisions as discriminating, or my problem, or whatever. but i believe in what i choose, so i will listen to what they say, but for now, i will continue to choose what is good for me.

i have lived with the effects of alcoholism too long, and made too many excuses for someone elses behavior, looking the other way, pretending it would all be ok, etc. so now, i can make choices and believe in what i have chosen.

don't it feel great???!!!!!!!

after all, THEY are the ones who have chosen to pick up that drink....not US. durn, they are good at bring out the guilt, eh?

god bless
jeri

robina

That's part of my dilemma. Because I have suffered a lot due to the alcoholism of people very close to me, I worry that this affects my reactions to alcohol in general.

I worry that it makes me hyper-sensitive to drinking, and people who are drinking. I worry that it clouds my judgement when it comes to situations like this.

But after thinking it through, I'm much more at peace with reporting him. It was only a matter of time before somebody reported him, and who knows what damage his altered state was doing to the morale of our clients?

BohemiMamaof3

You did the right thing!

mazey

I once worked with another nurse who I could smell alcohol on after lunch a couple times.....did eventually suggest she may be drinking. She had warnings, and now, years later is out of a job, lost her Nursing license and her family and is virtually homeless due to alcoholism. It was kinda hard to initially report this, but she stayed at the job for a few years after that on probation, the supervision I think actually saved her worsening for awhile....
I am curious what your co-worker's outcome was from the report you gave?

LaTeeDa

As the manager of a department, I would say that is the answer right there. In my department, we function as a team. If one of the team members is not doing their share of work, for whatever reason, I would want it brought to my attention. It's not fair to the other members to have to do their own job plus parts of another person's, except in a very short-term situation. Unfortunately, I find that co-workers tend to cover for each other way too much without even realizing they are hurting themselves and the entire organization by doing so.

JMO,
L

robina

I've been watching all week and I haven't seen or heard anything different. Perhaps management is taking a "wait and see" approach.

Thanks for that story, by the way.

There is a fine line between loving detachment and careless neglect. There's no rule book when it comes to this disease, and sometimes these situations are problematic, no matter what you do.

robina

Thanks, my big ole co-dependent tendencies were working overtime (literally!) :-)