[mattsmom81]

I'm so sorry. I would love to see this challenged in the courts through ADA. I don
t think the BNE can make laws against federal laws, and it seems to me this has been done here. If a nurse is not impaired and can do the job I cannot understand this..it seems to me discrimination towards a nurse in chronic pain who needs narcs to function, with an assumption they are 'impaired'.

Siri...sorry...I didn't know you were a legal nurse consultant...is there no hope that this can be fough, or will nurses in chronic pain be forever undermedicated to keep a job???

[teeituptom]

Do you want someone under the use of narcotics driving a car.

Do you want a nurse using narcotics to control pain to take care of your family members

To be truthfull for myself I have to answer....No

I do feel sorry for your problems though. There are areas that you can go into not involving patient care though, that you can do. Insurance comapnies love haveing nurses for audits and such. So do Shysters.

[SRbear]

Do you realize how many people out there are working and driving each day taking pain meds?? Wonder if we could find out the number of oxycontin precriptions filled each year or for other narcotics as well. We as nurses have been pushed over the last years, that pain is the fifth vital sign, and pain is what the patient says it is. Well that is great............but they really did not finish the teaching......like putting the cart before the horse. We need to treat pain..good...but do you stop working because you have pain, do you stop being a mother, daughter, wife, friend. We have some serious thinking and studying to do here folks. you can't treat pain, and then condemn those you treat.

[sirI]

Originally Posted by mattsmom81

I'm so sorry. I would love to see this challenged in the courts through ADA. I don
t think the BNE can make laws against federal laws, and it seems to me this has been done here. If a nurse is not impaired and can do the job I cannot understand this..it seems to me discrimination towards a nurse in chronic pain who needs narcs to function, with an assumption they are 'impaired'.

Siri...sorry...I didn't know you were a legal nurse consultant...is there no hope that this can be fough, or will nurses in chronic pain be forever undermedicated to keep a job???

Hey there, mattsmom,

If the state law is more stringent than the federal law about the same issue/s then, yes, the state law takes precedence.

I see these laws not changing any time soon, if ever. It is strictly a patient safety factor.

[mattsmom81]

Originally Posted by teeituptom

Do you want someone under the use of narcotics driving a car.

Do you want a nurse using narcotics to control pain to take care of your family members

To be truthfull for myself I have to answer....No

I do feel sorry for your problems though. There are areas that you can go into not involving patient care though, that you can do. Insurance comapnies love haveing nurses for audits and such. So do Shysters.

If I take a Vicodin, my pain is well controlled, I can smile and think straight. I don't get dizzy or fuzzy but that's just me. Right now my pain is controlled on Tramadol and Mobic, but this will likely change in time and I'd like to think I could still get a nursing job if I need an occasional Vicodin.

Would I work in critical care???Probably not...I'd go for something less stressful. My problem is with the BON essentially saying we can't be nurses anymore because we have chronic severe pain (and most of it is FROM nursing) and I am afraid that no employer would want us because of the stigma. Just doesn't seem right. We can't get SSD in many cases, and we can't get a job either. Doesn't seem fair.

[CrunchRN]

I would have no problem having a nurse whose meds are stabilized, and is able to funtion care for me or my family. If the pain management doc say's they are safe I think it should be allowed. I would be thrilled if my family member had an experienced, sensible nurse like Mattsmom caring for them. It is so ironic that nurses who are hurt doing their duties are then literally dumped by everyone without so much as a thanks for your years of service. I think it stinks, and once again I think other nurses who should be educating the public and those in power on these issues. There is a HUGE difference between a nurse on chronic pain amagement and one taking PRN meds or treatment for an acute problem. No, I do not have pain issues, but I can see what would happen if I did have them and I do not like it.

[onelegswife]

I am an RN and have chronic back pain for a number of years. I never really thought about the "issues" involved. I have always told my DON about my back problems and what I took, in advance. When drug testing, no problems. They just check levels to make sure I do not abuse my meds. I went to a siminar in my state related to nurses and drugs. The speaker was from BON. She said to tell your boss, in advance if possible. Other then that, keep it to yourself. This may vary from state to state but I have had no problems so far.

[Crumbwannabe]

Originally Posted by teeituptom

Do you want someone under the use of narcotics driving a car.

Do you want a nurse using narcotics to control pain to take care of your family members

To be truthfull for myself I have to answer....No

I do feel sorry for your problems though. There are areas that you can go into not involving patient care though, that you can do. Insurance comapnies love haveing nurses for audits and such. So do Shysters.

Do you want a doc performing surgery on you while in severe pain, needing to sit down,perhaps lie down for a few minutes to regain focus? I'd prefer to have my surgery done by a surgeon who is comfortable and not hastening the procedure to get it over with. Of course in the ideal world, health care providers ignore and overcome the pain with their stoic character.

Believe me, I'm there, and the pain is getting worse. I don't volunteer info to anyone, I am not cloudy due to narcs, relif of pain helps me to focus on what I should be doing. Believe me, no one is going to give you a gold star or blue ribbon for living in constant inescapable pain. You will simply realize that when the end of your life comes, you had never lived, to paraphrase Thoreau.
Or you may end up putting a bullet in your own head when you have no more reserve to live with it.

So my message is that when quality of life is poor at best you have nothing to lose by lying, cheating, falsifying or whatever it takes to get by those employers or agencies who would exclude you from the human race. And being in a position of having nothing to lose is quite liberating if you think about it. It takes a great load off if you accept that you can't improve your lot. (I am not talking about stealing drugs or forging scripts or anything of the sort. I am talking about prescriptions administered by competent physicians.)

What are the "good people" in a position to do about it if they catch you using a prescription at work? Make you more miserable than you already are?
Don't just stand and take it. Be a troublemaker if needs be, and choose your battles wisely.

[TweetiePieRN]

Originally Posted by grannynurse FNP student

I checked the NYS NPA. It is not addressed in their NPA. And I doubt it is ib any other one. W@hat is, is the term moral wrong doing. Employers can set their own rules however.

Grannynurse

Obtained this info from the California BRN:

"2762. Drug-related transgressions

In addition to other acts constituting unprofessional conduct within the meaning of this chapter it is unprofessional conduct for a person licensed under this chapter to do any of the following:


(b) Use any controlled substance as defined in Division 10 (commencing with Section 11000) of the Health and Safety Code, or any dangerous drug or dangerous device as defined in Section 4022, or alcoholic beverages, to an extent or in a manner dangerous or injurious to himself or herself, any other person, or the public or to the extent that such use impairs his or her ability to conduct with safety to the public the practice authorized by his or her license."

Judging from the wording of this, nurses may still practice if they are on narcotics. It is only if the narcotic impairs them. I have used Vicodin for pain...I get pain relief, but do not have any effects of being impaired or feeling "high".

[TweetiePieRN]

Originally Posted by siri

If an individual has a valid prescription for a controlled substance and does not declare this, it is in violation. There is nothing to fight.

Wondering....so if a nurse is a closet alcoholic, do they also need to declare their addiction to alcohol? Isn't alcholism a disease? Couldn't this be considered discrimination against someone with a mental disorder (alcohol abuse)? Just curious about this. Also, Siri...are all 50 states Board of Nursing the same with regards to rules and regulations?