Low participation in WI program for nurses who want help with drug addiction

MADISON — Thousands of Wisconsin nurses deal with drug addiction, and the state has created a program for nurses who want to get help.

But that program has a lower participation rate than some other states, and some people say it may have to do with the way the program is set up.

Wisconsin has a model that's run by the same entity that oversees the Board of Nursing. That's the agency that disciplines nurses who are caught, rather than turn themselves in, and some people say that might make nurses worry about revealing their problem.

Mike Miller, the medical director of an addiction treatment center in Oconomowoc, says he'd like to see the state adopt an independent model.