[Momma Pat]

My daughter has been suspended from her ER nurse position while the board investigates her situation. She has been caught stealing IV dilaudid. Her entire family has been blind sided by this and we do not know what to do or how to best help her. Can anybody please advise me on what I should do about this medically and legally?

Please help me help my daughter

[cougarnurse]

Post moved to more appropriate forum. Good luck with this situation.

[JennyP]

Medically, she probably needs treatment.

Legally, you can find her a lawyer who works with RNs and the Board of Nursing. Also legally, she's an adult so unless she allows it by signing a release, you can't see her medical or legal records to know what is going on with her.

IV Dilaudid is a pretty serious drug to be abusing. 1 mg of IV Dilaudid is equal to 10 mg of IV Morphine, so it doesn't take much for pain relief. In the ICU we would give 0.2-0.4 mg for pain.

[lpRN13108]

Let me start by commending you for wanting to stand by your daughter and help her through this difficult situation, many family members just walk away when there loved one makes poor choices that result in legal implications..she is very lucky to have you. Now for my advice on how best to help your daughter..I would start by asking her why she took the dilaudid? Has she ever diverted before? Hopefully she will be able to open up to you and share her reasons for taking it,,if she knows herself. You have to understand that our job as nurses puts us in a position to handle very potent narcotic medication daily and for people with the disease of addiction the temptation can be too great to overcome..but in other cases nurses are suffering from physical pain that they begin self medicating and become addicted. Regardless of the reasons why she took it she broke the law and the ethics of nursing. She will most likely be charged by the BON in her state and forced to enter a diversion program..the bad news is she will probably lose her license for a few years but the good news is that when she completes the diversion program and is well into recovery from addiction she will be able to get her license back. So to be supportive tell her that she needs this time to focus on her health and wellness and she will eventually be able to return to nursing again. Many of us in nursing find all of our identity and self worth in being a nurse...what she needs most from you now is to be reminded that she is an intelligient,strong,beautiful woman wether she is performing the duties of a nurse or not and her disease of addiction caused her to make a bad choice, but she is not a bad person and there is proven effective treatment for this disease which she will get in the diversion program. my experience in the program has taught me a lot and helped me to better understand how my patients feel during recovery from many diseases..it has been an invaluable lesson for my nursing education. Best of Luck to both you and your daughter. Remind her that she is not the only nurse in the world who has been affected by addiction..we are all here for her if she needs to talk to a fellow nurse.
Laurie