Nurses Peer Support Network

Minnesota is home to more than 130,000 licensed nurses. Substance use disorder (SUD) is a chronic disease that afflicts one in 10 individuals in the general population and perhaps even more among nurses because of the number of high-risk factors associated with the profession (access to addictive medications, stressful workplace, etc.). The COVID-19 epidemic has placed even more stressors on the health and well-being of nurses, many who worked on the frontlines of the epidemic

Substance use disorder is a treatable disease. Established in 2014, the Nurses Peer Support Network (NPSN) offers hope and healing through peer support in a safe environment for nurses in recovery.  We believe that every nurse deserves access to treatment, help in preserving his or her license and employment status, and ongoing support by peers throughout the recovery process. 

Funded totally by donations, the NPSN has a paid part-time executive director. All other work of the organization is done by volunteers to actualize the NPSN mission and vision. The NPSN mission is to be a resource for all Minnesota nurses by providing education and outreach about substance use disorder in nursing to foster public safety. NPSN committees do much of the work of NPSN by providing education about substance use disorder in nursing to nursing organizations, nursing schools, and healthcare systems. An NPSN Speaker's Bureau is available to make presentations about this topic to those who request it. 

It is the vision of NPSN that all nurses in Minnesota will have access to community-based peer support for substance use disorder. NPSN offers 12 peer support group meetings throughout the month for nurses in recovery from SUD to break through the isolation, shame, and stigma that is so pervasive among nurses in recovery. In 2023 an average of 465 nurses per month were served by NPSN peer support groups. Most of these participants are Minnesota nurses but the weekly Tuesday evening group  conducted by NPSN volunteers is on an international recovery platform, In the Rooms. In this meeting over 100 nurses per week from around the country and the globe come together to support each other in recovery. NPSN offers other online and in-person peer support groups, each led by a volunteer NPSN group convener who is in long-term recovery from substance use disorder. A list of the meetings convened by NPSN can be found on the NPSN website: www.npsnetwork-mn.org. 

Please help us fulfill our mission and vision by making a donation today.