Our Mission

The mission of the Tennessee Professional Assistance Program is to assist in the rehabilitation of impaired health care professionals by providing consultation, referral, and monitoring services to facilitate a safe return to practice.

Who We Are

The Peer Assistance Program (PAP) was established by the Tennessee Nurses Association in 1981 and subsequently placed under the Tennessee Nurses Foundation (TNF) in 1982 (link - www.tnaonline.org/tnftrustees.html) to assist in the rehabilitation of nurses who were impaired from the abuse of drugs or alcohol. From 1981 to 1994, the program was staffed with nurse volunteers who contacted the chemically dependent nurses and urged him/her to acknowledge the problem and seek treatment. Failure of the chemically dependent nurse to seek treatment after adequate contacts necessitated reporting the individual to the Tennessee Board of Nursing. Determination of facts and disciplinary action has always been, and will continue to be, the responsibility of the Tennessee Department of Health's Division of Health Related Boards.

One purpose of the Health Related Boards is to assist in the rehabilitation of impaired professionals who are licensed by these Boards. The Health Related Boards have the power to enter into agreements, provide grants, and make other arrangements with statewide nonprofit professional associations or foundations to identify and assist impaired professionals who are licensed by these Boards.

In 1994, the Tennessee Board of Nursing contracted with the Tennessee Nurses Foundation to provide advocacy, referral, and monitoring services for their licensees as an alternative to licensure discipline.

Due to the success of the program, other professional boards expressed an interest in partnering with PAP. In an effort to embrace other health care professionals, the PAP changed its name to the Tennessee Professional Assistance Program (TnPAP); however, the original structure and philosophy have not changed.

In addition to the Tennessee Board of Nursing, TnPAP presently is partnered with the following licensing boards/committees:

What We Do

• Provide advocacy, referral, and monitoring services to health care professionals whose practice is impaired by substance abuse or a physiological or related psychological condition.
  
  
• Assist these participants in obtaining appropriate evaluation and treatment.
  
  
• Receive information from the participants, treatment provider(s), and employer to determine appropriate return-to-practice guidelines.
  
  
• Provide structured follow-up and monitoring of participant's compliance with program requirements, work performance, and progress in continuing treatment.
  
  
• Educate employers, employee assistance programs, schools, colleges, universities, hospitals, and professional associations about TnPAP, and the negative effects of addiction in the work place, and the potential for rehabilitation and a safe return to practice.
  
  
• Provide pre-licensure evaluation and review for state licensing boards.

Objectives of Tennessee Professional
Assistance Program are to:

• To provide an alternative to the traditional licensure disciplinary progress;
  
  
• To provide support and close monitoring of professionals who are unsafe, or potentially unsafe, to practice due to the use of drugs or alcohol and/or due to a related psychological condition;
  
  
• To facilitate early intervention, thereby decreasing the time between the professional's acknowledgement of the problem and is/her entry into a recovery process;
  
  
• To provide a program for affected professionals to be rehabilitated in a therapeutic, non-punitive and non-public process;
  
  
• To develop a statewide resource network for referral of impaired professionals to appropriate services;
  
  
• To provide outreach and education to health care facilities, professional organizations, and health care professional schools throughout the state of Tennessee to promote understanding of chemical addiction, the recovery process, and the TnPAP in hopes of facilitating early intervention.