Just took random drug test

Nurses Recovery

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Hello everyone.

I was working last Sunday and at the end of my shift the OA came up to me and asked me to walk with her. I asked her if I had done something wrong, she told me I was fine but she escorted me off the unit. She then told me that one of my patients family members stated that I looked like I was under the influence. She told me I had to submit to a urine and blood test immediately. I told I did not want to and she stated that I would be reported to the BON if I refused. Long story short, I was not inebriated but I smoke weed on my days off. It is now Thursday and I still haven't heard anything back. My manager called me before I was scheduled to work to tell me not to report to work until the situation is resolved. I fully expect the test to come back positive for THC. I am so scared and I do not know what to do. It feels like the end of the world. So what can I expect to happen next? Will it be easier to pursue another career than to go through TPAPN? I have researched the TPAPN process and it seems so humiliating. I don't know what to do. I know I need to admit I have a problem and I am almost there but not quite. Any advice, Please?

Specializes in geriatric.

i agree with the above posts when they say if you chose to smoke full well knowing what it could cost you then you may have a problem. there is a nurse in my group who just came to our group for using mj. she stated she did not have a problem. she stated she never smoked but chose one night after many years of being grown with children to randemly smoke a joint. she said the next day she was asked to pee on comand at work because she was acting funny. she did not think she was she said she was just tired. i guess it was a major coincidence that she failed the test for mj. now she may be stuck in a state monitoring program with us. oh yea she then mentioned how her sister was always telling her she was taking to many narcotic pain meds. which she didnt think was a problem either. she was also doing this with her young children asleep up stairs.If it looks like a duck... if you know what i mean. I feel for the poor sole who started this thread but nobody forced the joint in your hand.Or did they?

Here is my take on it. I may be way off base but it will give you a view point you may not have otherwise noticed.

When you were asked to take a UA it was because a patient's family member said you looked under the influence, right? Then your manager asked for a UA, right? You failed the UA, right? So to the manager, the patient's family was correct. It looks like you were at work as a NURSE taking care of PATIENTs while you were HIGH. Like I said, I may be wrong but that is how it looks. If your family was in the hospital, would you want someone that was drunk or high taking care of them? Honestly?

You say that you wish it would all just go away. Maybe a fancy lawyer can sweep it under the rug and you can go on with life. I think this was a big enough wake up call for you to stop. Argue the addiction thing, or "Just weed" thing all you want. There are certain rules you have to abide by, in nursing or life in general, or there are consiquences to pay. I know I have made my fair share of mistakes, I am by no means perfect. But smoking weed as a nurse to me just seems foolish.

I hope it all works out for you and you get a second chance. I don't think you would make the mistake again. It's just not worth it.

Stepping of the soapbox now...

Specializes in Impaired Nurse Advocate, CRNA, ER,.
So i never heard anything from the board directly, they just referred me to tpapn. I went for my eval and was diagnosed with cannibus abuse disorder. so i was accepted into tpapn and have to do the 12 steps and iop. i have to tell my current employer where i have been employed 2 years about this. i am nervous. can they fire me? i have no practice violations that i am aware of. the job where all this happened was a new job but i never left my old job (thank god). at this point i am wondering can they fire me since i now have a disability?

I would consult with your license defense attorney so you don't make a (well intentioned or innocent) mistake that could cause more complications with your job (or license). I know everyone hates to hire an attorney, but if their advice can prevent complications in your professional life, their fee is well worth it.

Trying to deal with complicated legal issues (or issues you don't understand) without legal advice is no different than trying to treat a complicated medical condition without seeking medical advice.

Good luck and let us know how things go.

Jack

Specializes in CardioPulmonary/Internal Medicine.

I am very sorry to hear that you are going through this experience. However, as a person in similar shoes, I would like to say for what it's worth that this did not happen by accident. Even if you were not actually impaired at work, the effects of substances on the body are not limited to the immediate period of intoxication; you know that. This incident very well may have saved your life and, potentially, the lives of patients. I know that my recovery is the most valuable gift I have ever been given. I hope you are able to get whatever type of help you need to facilitate your ongoing health and recovery.

Specializes in ICU.

I know that I am a bit late on this. But I wanted to reply because, here's the jist..... If you don't tell your employer right now, then you will be in violation of your TPAPN contract. You can not and MUST not work in nursing until you are approved by your case manager to return to work. TPAPN will make you be off of work for a few weeks, depending on your treatment up to a few months. When you can produce a negative UDS, the will consider the return to work agreement with an employer and position that qualifies under TPAPN restrictions.

I'm not saying that your current employer will fire you, since the incident was not with them, but yeah, in Texas, they can pretty much let you go for anything. I know there is the ADA, but it is a pain in the ass to prove your employer specifically fired you because of your addiction disability. They could dig in your charting and find something to fire you over if the want to.

However, the most important thing about this whole thing right now, is that IF you are working, and you just now signed a TPAPN contract, then you have already made atleast one violation of the rules. And thats all it takes for TPAPN to drop you and then guess what? You'll be in front of the board. Pleading your case and paying an attorney is not really what you want to do right now is it?

Specializes in Critical Care, Psychiatric.

I have had three evals. I wrote about the first, the secound LCDC recommended only monitoring and since I had two conflicting eval, I had to see a psychiatrist. The psychiatrist said I needed tpapn but not intensive outpatient therapy. So I notified my employer and they are going to work with me. Right now they are just waiting to see when I can return to work and they are gonna place me somewhere. I've been going to my 12 step meetings and they are pretty good. My case manager wants me to go to supportive out patient therapy which is not nearly as intense as intensive outpatient. God has blessed me to be able to learn from this but still be able to keep my job. Thanks for all the support. I am looking forward to completing the program and putting this behind me. No high was ever worth this but I learn my lessons well. I guess I got lucky because none of the lawyers I spoke with would take my money, they all told me to just go through the program and move on with my life so I could retain my license.

Let's just remember that alcohol is much more dangerous than cannabis. To take only one point, it is quite easy to drink too much and die. It is impossible to smoke too much and die.

So I hope anyone that says, "Shame on you, potsmoker," never drinks.

Let's just remember that alcohol is much more dangerous than cannabis. To take only one point, it is quite easy to drink too much and die. It is impossible to smoke too much and die.

So I hope anyone that says, "Shame on you, potsmoker," never drinks.

Unfortunately the law doesn't seem to agree with you. For whatever reason you believe it to be. Also, showing up to work high is a little different than having a beer the previous night.

And we all know that laws never change, right? That's why we still have alcohol prohibition and the gangsters that go along with that black market, right?

The largest state in the U.S. is probably going to legalize by referendum in 2012?

The myth of the "Killer Weed" is dead.

And by the way, the original poster got caught because of smoking on off time. Urine tests can go back 10-14 days. Blood tests go back a few days.

If you really only want to catch the ones who smoke at work or before work, use a saliva test. Most don't care about the truth, so they don't choose that option.

Unfortunately the law doesn't seem to agree with you. For whatever reason you believe it to be. Also, showing up to work high is a little different than having a beer the previous night.
Specializes in Education, FP, LNC, Forensics, ED, OB.

Let's cool our heels here. Please, debate the topic, but don't make it personal. Would hate to close this thread. O.k.??

Thanks

And we all know that laws never change, right? That's why we still have alcohol prohibition and the gangsters that go along with that black market, right?

The largest state in the U.S. is probably going to legalize by referendum in 2012?

The myth of the "Killer Weed" is dead.

And by the way, the original poster got caught because of smoking on off time. Urine tests can go back 10-14 days. Blood tests go back a few days.

If you really only want to catch the ones who smoke at work or before work, use a saliva test. Most don't care about the truth, so they don't choose that option.

You misunderstand me. I am not arguing that weed is more dangerous than alcohol. I'm telling you that the laws and the BON will punish you for being caught with marijuana. Despite what you or I think, alcohol is legal and weed is not.

Also, OP said that he was reported while on duty by a patient's family that said his eyes were bloodshot.

Specializes in Critical Care, Psychiatric.

Hi all,

I am the "poor soul" who started this thread. While reading other posts on this site, I have often wondered what happened to the original poster . All I can say is, what a difference a year makes.

I am currently working as an intake nurse at a mental health hospital. I hate it, but it's a job and for that, I am grateful. I miss the bedside but I took the first job that I was offered which also happened to be the first interview that I went on. There were 2 other nurses in my IOP class and we all successfully found jobs in mental health nursing.

I had to let a lot of people go. It was painful but sometimes it hurts while its healing. I have returned to school to obtain my bachelors degree.

Basically, I will be obtaining my bachelors degree around the same time that I should be finishing TPAPN. The program is difficult but not impossible. I hope anyone who is at the beginning of this process and comes across this post feels encouraged by that. I am very optimistic about the future. Throughout all of the trials involved with being a TPAPN nurse, I realize that I am Blessed and Highly Favored.

Thanks to everyone who offered words of encouragement during such a difficult and low point in my life.

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