NCPRSS case studies
NCPRSS · Put your knowledge to work in context.
The National Certified Peer Recovery Support Specialist (NCPRSS) credential is a peer workforce certification for people with lived experience of substance use or mental health recovery who are employed or volunteering as peer recovery support specialists. It signals that a specialist has met a standard of training, supervised experience, and examination performance set by the certifying body, and it is typically used by employers, state agencies, and payer networks as evidence of competency rather than as a clinical license. The NCPRSS case studies are 5 cases and about 5,087 words.
1The ED Nurse's Four Requests
You are a certified peer recovery support specialist employed by a community behavioral health agency and assigned to the emergency department of a 240-bed hospital three 12-hour shifts a week (Monday, Wednesday, Friday, 7 p.m. At 10:20 p.m., with security tied up on another floor, the charge nurse asks you to do three things before midnight: sit one-to-one with a 41-year-old man who is intoxicated, yelling, and refusing to stay on the stretcher; go through his duffel bag to "see what he's holding"; and, once his urine drug screen results post, tell the physician "what he's really using" so the team can decide about withdrawal management.
990 words, about 5 min2The Probation Officer on Line Two
You work at a peer-run recovery community center offering drop-in groups, one-to-one peer coaching, and help with benefits applications. You carry 22 participants.
1,020 words, about 5 min3Fifty-Eight Miles to the Nearest Prescriber
Dana is 29, 45 days into recovery, and has been on buprenorphine for six weeks. She works swing shifts at a poultry plant, has no car, and lost her license over unpaid fines.
1,047 words, about 5 min4A Text at 11:40 p.m.
Jae is 68, a Korean American widower who lives alone, four months out of detoxification from alcohol. He has chronic back pain and takes a prescribed opioid.
992 words, about 5 min5The Note That Says "Manipulative"
You have been a peer recovery support specialist for 14 months and carry 18 participants. Your supervisor is on medical leave; the only coverage is an on-call clinical supervisor you have never met.
1,038 words, about 5 min