[kimcrumley]

i recently had my lisc. suspended for taking a nonnarcotic rx i wasn't aware that we had to notify the board when taking nonnacotic rx's now they sent me a letter stating that i was suspended idefinetely but they are still requiring me to cont to call first lab for drug testing i have been in recovery with the nursing board for only 2 months now what do i do?

[AmandaWIRN]

Something sounds fishy here- if you had a current & legal prescription for this medication from a physician, then your license would not have been suspended for taking it, as long as you were not taking a mind altering medication while at work. Was this medicine prescribed to you, or to someone else???

[kimcrumley]

Originally Posted by AmandaWIRN

Something sounds fishy here- if you had a current & legal prescription for this medication from a physician, then your license would not have been suspended for taking it, as long as you were not taking a mind altering medication while at work. Was this medicine prescribed to you, or to someone else???

i have a rx for this medication but i failed to let the board know that i was ltaking this medication and i took a drug test and the tramadol showed up they suspended my lisc before i sent a copy of my rx

[AmandaWIRN]

Were you on restrictions or under board supervision before this occurred???

[hppygr8ful]

I have to agree with amanda here - If you were alredy under board supervision and took tramadol with out submitting the script to them you were in violation of your cantract - the boards are very strict about these things as they should be. I've been under board supervision for 4 years and won't even take a tylenol without letting them know.

If you were not under board supervison then you are every nurse out there needs to know that even if you have a prescription the nurse practice acts in most states specifically prohibit the use of any mind-altering medication while on duty or for a 24 hours prior to going on duty. So you do play with fire - chances are you'll never get tested unless you appear altered or something goes wrong - but it could happen and statistically 1 in 10 nurses working has a substance abuse problem. It's an ugly truth that we don't want to look at but it's there.

I hope that you find peace a recovery in this - For me almost losing my license was the best thing that ever happened to me - I'm alive today because of it so remeber whenever one door closes another opens.

Peace and Namaste

Hppy

[longhornfan1]

Script or no script, Big brother will always find something to complain about. I was in the Tx program for 20 months (24 months for completion) and bent over backwards to comply. Dr this, Psych that, Chemical Dependency Treatment, out-of-pocket drug screens and was told I had a positive drug screen for Morphine. Had the MRO review the test and he determined that it was a food related false positive, all my "Recovery Professionals" wrote that I was compliant with the program and should be allowed to finish without interruption, but my Case Mgr decided in her infinite wisdom that I had violated the contract by eating poppyseed muffins and I was instructed to go back to treatment for 6 weeks, and sign another 2 year contract!. Am tired of eating sh.. with a fork and spoon, but to keep my license, I have no choice. Will advocate for recovering nurses, but never for the state peer assistance programs.

Hi, my name is longhornfan1 and I am a poppyseed muffin addict.

BS.

[longhornfan1]

ALSO,,,,,, contract suggests not using the hand sanitizers and alcohol rubs as this may show a false positive for ETOH and will require restarting the program!! REALLY.

[JennyP]

lonnghornfan1, I was working charge in a busy CV-ICU and one of the regular staff came and told me that an agency nurse smelled strongly of ETOH and that I needed to go "do something" about it. I went in the room to speak with the agency nurse, and I didn't smell anything. So I stayed to help the agency nurse and then explained something he didn't understand in our charting system. I helped him boost the patient, then we used the hand sanitizer before leaving the bedside.

SURPRISE!! His body chemistry with the hand sanitizer made him smell like he was reeking in gin! (*I* didn't smell like that, nor did another nurse in the room; but the 4th nurse there did have a bit of an alcohol scent too). I realized that that stuff metabolized differently for some people then; so I would definitely stay away from it if I were you.

[CRNAspa]

Sadly, until the pathophysiology of substance abuse and chemical dependency are understood by the everyday health care professional, this kind of baloney will continue. At some point, the recovering community needs to become more vocal. Yes, it's a catch-22, we want to remain anonymous but then get po'd when our colleagues have no clue about this whole topic. As long as we wait for someone else to tell out stories, get used to the "3 M's" of addiction...

Myth, Misbelief, and Misinformation!

[cougarnurse]

I took a few Addiction courses, and in my Phlebotomy course, I did a presentation on false positives. Having some Slavic in my family hx, those of us who love poppy seed cake are up a creek, especially around the holidays.