Do they have to know? I need help!!!

janaRNWV · Feb 21, 2011

I would take some vacation or sick time, detox (the physical stuff is only a few days), and start going to NA/AA meetings. Do as much as you can on your own until you find out what your options are in your state. Every day that you go to work, you risk being REPORTED by someone, and worse than that, you are risking your health.

I wish someone would have explained it this simply to me! I waited and waited, not knowing what to do or how to do it, and ended up losing my job and now I'm dealing with the RN board in WV. BUT, I could have ended up dead or in jail. Bottom line, stop taking them and detox on your own if you can. If not, find a way (rehab enter, etc). It's not nearly as bad as you think it's going to be! Congratulations on making that first step. That's the hardest one.

rnlb · Feb 21, 2011

Hey

If your work doesnt find out then you can probably enter into a treatment facility for a program and you can leave your work for the amount of time needed under FMLA. In PA, which I think is where you live, you cant report yourself anyway, my girlfriend tried to report herself and was told her employer had to do it. Needless to say she started to get involved with the PNAP program. I would get help before you get caught, I never in my life thought I would divert from work until I did and then got caught. Im currently involved in PNAP and its probably the best thing Ive ever done only because quitting on my own was impossble. I didnt know all this until I went to treatment and got help. If you go to treatment on your own before your work finds out you'll be ok and you wont have to be involved in the whole PNAP mess and hopefully change your life. Good Luck however you decide to do it.

caliotter3 · Feb 21, 2011

If I were going to advise you as a friend, I would say the same thing as Bedpan. Get yourself a calendar and map out a tapering schedule for yourself. You can do this. If you go to a peer assistance program, you are risking your livelihood long term. Best wishes.

emmertrn · Feb 22, 2011

I sympathize with you. I have been there. I was prescribed Vicoden for a back injury and did become physically addicted to them. Eventually, I did begin to divert Morphine. I am currently in the HPRP program (MI) and I can now say, it has been a lifesavor. I completely understand that you do not want to self report. If you are able, it would be in your best interest to wean off of these. I believe if I would have done that, I never would have diverted the Morphine and would have ended up in a much better place! I thought I needed them for my back pain, didn't realize I was becoming physically addicted and actually thought I needed them every day for my pain. I was interpreting "withdrawel" as physical pain and affirmation that I still needed to be on Vicoden. I know firsthand how difficult it is to get off of Vicoden. Be prepared for some major body aches and diarrhea. I will be praying for you :)

all_over_again · Feb 22, 2011

If self-supervised tapering were effective, everyone would do it. Your doctor cannot report you to the BON and you should therefore make him or her your ally in kicking your addiction.

I wouldn't dream of going to the board with this. IMO, there is no such thing as "peer assistance" in state programs. It is nothing more than 3-5 years of expensive and intrusive monitoring that ultimately leaves you all but unemployable. Exactly what kind of "assistance" is that?

RNOTODAY, BSN, RN · Feb 25, 2011

Thanks everyone for the advise, and encouragement. means alot...

just to be clear, my intentions were NEVER to report myself, my fear was that I woulld tell my docs, and my fear was that they were OBLIGATED to report me.... hence my reluctance to go to my doc with my addiction.....it is stilll unclear to me whether my doctors can or will report me to the BON... and I cant take that chance.... so I have decided to take the advice of doing this on my own... so far so good.....

dlatimer · Mar 5, 2011

I would think twice and cover all your bases. I self reported and since then have been unemployed for over 2 years.

Story:

When I began my nursing career if I did what was the best for the patient, and I didn't step on the doctor's toes too much, then everyone thought I was doing a fine job. Now, when my supervisor, a member of the ruling class in one of these healthcare conglomerates decides I no longer am doing what is best for the company or as is currently explained 'not a good fit for our organization'. Then they can fire me 'for negligence or incompetence' as they were the ones deciding the definitions. The healthcare organizations can also 'weed out' the nurses who become too smart or compassionate or the personnel that require too much pay that would threaten the profit margin of the institution. Which explains why there continues to be a nursing shortage if nursing schools are churning out graduates at a breakneck pace? I continue to see ads for nurses and pleas from nurses who can't find a job. There seems to be a disconnect.

I have recently found out that my state Board of Nursing has the same investment in these healthcare conglomerates. I recently had a hearing to determine if I was negligent and incompetent. The accusations were: 1) I neglected to write down one value in a list of vital sign values present on the evidence. The evidence did not include the nurse's notes, which could explain why the value wasn't entered (the wave form could have been abnormal or the value could have been faulty). The evidence also didn't include the physician's assessment of the patient at that time. The accusation also implied my inaction caused the patient to die 7 days later. 2) That I had knowingly disabled monitoring alarms. Alarms are going off all the time in an ICU. When I respond I turn the alarm off since it has served its purpose in alerting me. There was no death mentioned with this accusation. 3) That I had responded to an alarm only when the daughter of a patient alerted me. I was documenting the care delivered to this point and was finishing a sentence. The daughter was very aware of her father's condition and I considered her interest in his condition as more than mine. And, since I was sitting in front of the patient I was quite aware and expected this alarm to happen as the patient's heart condition indicated it was more than probable. The treatment was the same regardless. No one died.

What the accusations didn't mention was my supervisor threatening me with Board of Nursing notification when I told her I would quit because I wasn't able to deliver quality care in this ICU. My patients and their families always come first and if I can't perform by own principles and morals; it is time for me to leave.

I was more than a little surprised at the hearing when the Board of Nursing objected to my statement that other nurses declined to be my witness as they feared retribution by the healthcare organization. I wasn't something I would make up. I was under oath.

To complicate employment matters even more for me was my self-reporting alcohol addiction treatment to the Board of Nursing, as required, and placed on 5 years' probation. I didn't complain. I just wanted to do the right thing. I was dismayed to discover no healthcare organization in this metropolitan area would hire anyone on probation. I have been without a job for over 2 years. I am working on another degree in another profession, but can't get a job anywhere (one business hired me, I was in orientation, then told I couldn't be hired without an explanation when I asked.) even McDonald's. I will soon be living on whatever social aid I can get and become a burden on society. This doesn't have any logic. If I am such an incompetent nurse: why didn't it come up before 30 years? Why didn't it come up previously at mentioned healthcare institution before being employed there 4 years? If, indeed, I was incompetent and negligent why didn't they contest my unemployment compensation?

These are the questions that keep me awake at night and fear for the quality of healthcare in this state and country. The current rankings by various healthcare monitoring organizations make perfect sense to me. I have been present and seen the changes.