Missed FirstLab daily check-in...Fined by RN board

luvche · Aug 20, 2010

Where I am, we are to call in daily per Peer Assistance.If you miss a call they may not notice it. If they do, they consider the consequence in conjunction with other things (have you been late with your monthly paperwork, do you usually comply with contract, have you missed other call ins, etc) It ranges from a stern talking to, to more time added on to your contract, to termination from the peer program. If you miss it on a day you were chosen to test, the consequences are the same as if you had received a positive drug test (more time, to relapse prevention modifications, to in-patient, to termination from peer program). I believe consequences are the same if you are doing it through the board.

I missed 2 last August. They were weekends. The issue was my weekend schedule was not structured at all (as my weekdays are). My schedule had also recently changed. I actually didn't miss calling either. We can call until 4pm. We have to test by 4:30. I didn't remember until after 4 to call. By then, the system will just give you a recording saying we are calling outside the hours designated by our program. Then it will hang up. I got a talking to. But they saw i was just starting peer, and that it wasn't a habit. I show a missed one in May. But they didn't say anything. I also remember checking in that day (via computer). So I don't know why it shows as a missed call.

lexielynn · Aug 20, 2010

My miss was pretty much the same. It was a Saturday (we are never tested on weekends - just have to call in) and I got side tracked and just completely forgot. Monday morning I called the Board office in an attempt to self-report the miss and had to leave a message with the receptionist. My call was never returned. This is not unusual as my contact person avoids talking to me, and I assume others as well, at all costs. Sooo frustrating!!

catmom1, BSN, RN · Aug 21, 2010

We have to call between 6 AM & 2 PM seven days a week. During my first year, I forgot to call on a Sunday until 2:15 PM. :eek: I knew my compliance monitor would be out of her office, so I called the testing site only to discover that they are closed on weekends. There are no special instructions on what to do if one's number comes up when the testing site is closed.

Anyway, I left a message for my compliance monitor and when she called me back, she said that if I missed a drop, she would call me. She never did because I don't believe my number can come up on weekends or holidays. Like a previous poster said, I call every day anyway.

One time a couple of months ago, forgot to call on a weekday & decided to just show up at my testing site anyway. I figured they knew whose number had come up & wouldn't test me if it hadn't. Wrong. If I show up, they test me. They apparently have no idea whose number has come up that day.

This sucked because it costs me $80 for each drop and I am out of work. :mad:

Catmom :paw:

LilRedRN1973 · Aug 22, 2010

We are able to call in between the hours of 1am and 9pm, but obviously, if you want to be able to test, it behooves you to call in early because most labs in my area won't take drug testing after 4pm. When I wasn't working a "normal" job (i.e. prior to getting my license back/going back to work), I would stay up until 1am and call in so I knew whether I would have to go test that day. I'm naturally a night owl so this worked well. When I became employed and had to be at work by 5am, this was a problem obviously. I had to change the way I did things and I missed a call in. I immediately called my compliance coordinator, who told me to put in writing why I missed and what I was going to do in the future to prevent it from happening again. I didn't miss a call in again for quite a while, and then missed 2 within about a month of each other (the weekend thing....don't have to test, still have to call in, but I don't work on the weeknd, so it's not part of my "routine"). Again, I called my compliance coordinator and told her what happened. She had me put it in writing and stated that because I was in compliance with everything else, the DAC (Disability Advisory Committee, who oversees us and makes the BIG decisions) would not penalize me. She said they look for "patterns", rather than isolated events. And because they were both on the weekend, it wasn't as severe as if it had been during the week, or God forbid on a day when I had been selected (those are looked at the same as if you had tested positive).

I have also learned NOT to use my cell phone. I was using it for a while and when I checked my No Call Report online with First Lab, they had me down for quite a few missed calls ins on days I knew I had checked in. I was able to verify it with phone records but my compliance coordinator reminded me that she told all of us in orientation NOT to use our cell phones if possible. I, of course, thought I was different and proceeded to do just that. So now, I check in online and print out the page that shows I checked in that day and file it away so that if they ever say I didn't check on a certain day, I can show that I did.

jackstem · Aug 22, 2010

This sucks but can be seen as a difficult educational opportunity. The Alternative Program provides a "user's manual" as do most testing programs that I have experience with (personally and with clients). It is our responsibility to be sure we know the rules and regulations of our agreement with the BON and the Monitoring program. Yes, there are unusual circumstances where exceptions would be nice, maybe even appropriate. But in my recovery specialist/mentor/coach role, one of the first things my clients have to understand is the rules have been provided. As the person involved who must follow the rules, it is no one Else's responsibility to remember for me. Don't take this as a personal "swipe", it's a reminder that WE must be the active party in our recovery. Part of those activities include following the rules that have been laid out for us.

In my 20+ years of dealing with my own disease, the biggest truth I've learned is this:

ANYTHING I put before my recovery is one of the first things I will lose if/when my disease becomes active again.

Focusing on any of the other things that are unfair or difficult sets me up for relapse...which it did several times before I was busted, pleaded guilty to the felonies (there was no deal to be had and one wasn't offered - the DA wanted to make a point...to get re-elected), voluntarily mailed my license back (to keep me from killing myself). I could have done 8 years in a federal penitentiary and been fined LOTS of money (in the 100K+ range). Never mind that I had no money, no job, getting divorced, and had to make the difficult, but correct decision to leave the career I loved (anesthesia). I focused on ALL of the unfair garbage going on in my life. Most of my family and many of the people in my professionals support group agreed with me. As a result, those meetings became ***** and moan and whine parties. They were anything but helpful to my recovery. In fact, they were excellent at fueling current resentments and helping me develop even more as well!

I know this response isn't going to be popular with numerous folks here. That's not my intent. My intent is to cut through the smoke and denial in order to focus on the one thing that has been lost in the shuffle...recovery is all that matters. Everything else follows. If cancer could be placed into remission and kept there by working a recovery program of meetings, therapy, abstinence, monitoring of body fluids, and looking at other life skills that have been lost as a result of our addiction (or those we may not have developed effectively...drug use and misuse can do that), wouldn't we be ecstatic!?!? No chemo? No surgery? Nope...just therapy, meetings, sponsor and drug testing. YOU BET WE WOULD!! This disease has a terrible stigma associated with it! The only way that will change id for those of us with the disease demand and make sure that our educational systems (primary, secondary, and professional) changes their educational system and begin teaching the science of addiction. Stigma comes from ignorance. One of my primary roles as a peer advisor is education of the profession. I've never encountered more resistance to any other topic I've taught (anesthesia, pharmacology, pain management, etc.). People don't want to learn anything about this disease. How can we change stigma if we can't educate our colleagues?

Sorry for the rant. We need to change our focus from fairness and other things that distract us from the number one goal...RECOVERY!

Good luck and let us know how things proceed.

Jack

Devise a plan, looking at where you want your recovery to be in 3 months, 6 months, a year, etc. What are the biggest obstacles to achieving those defined goals on your timeline? Who can help you with this plan? A sponsor, other recovering health professionals (with a GOOD program for themselves), a therapist or counselor, or find a "personal recovery assistant/trainer". You want your recovery to hit the next level? Do what athletes do...hire a personal trainer.

This can be a wake up call to step up your recovery work, or, it can be another resentment that hampers your recovery. As Chuck Swindoll says so well;

"We are all faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as impossible situations. The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, the education, the money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company... a church... a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. And so it is with you... we are in charge of our Attitudes

lexielynn · Aug 23, 2010

Thank you jackstem for your words of wisdom. I have lurked on this site for about a year and have always found your responses helpful and encouraging. To be honest, my first response to the boards fine & suspension was to #$%@ and moan about how unfair it was but I quickly realized that I was indeed at fault as I had missed the check-in. My states program consists of a contract. That's it - No handbook, No resources, No help and a case manager that will not return phone calls. We are left to figure it out on our own, individually (not a peer program) so I really had no idea how to handle the situation. This is why I reached out - to see how this is handled elsewhere. While I will make every effort to ensure this does not happen again, if it does, I plan to do what was mentioned by Life_is_good_1973 and send a written statement.

luvche · Aug 23, 2010

We have to call 7days a week (weekends AND holidays) from 5:30am to 4 pm. We must actually urinate by 4pm. Now, that being said, for the longest no one EVER heard of anyone who had to test on a weekend. (Though we have a big list of approved labs and there are several open on weekends) Then slowly we heard of 1 or 2 that got chosen on a Saturday. One Saturday, a few weeks ago, something was up...because a crapload of us in two different cities were all chosen the SAME SATURDAY (random my ass). Even the test site says she hardly sees peer program people on Saturday's but she had tested at least 11 people by the time I arrived.

Now, if we get chosen on a holiday, it's my understanding the recording advises us where to go. Also, if we go out of town, we have to give them the zip code of where we will be. Then if we are chosen for that day, the recording gives us the name and address of lab we are to report to.

Code55 · Aug 27, 2010

Did I understand correctly? You missed a call-in without being called to test? If the missed call included being called to test, I could see where major consequences can happen. Missed called are another thing. Sounds like you are in one of those States where they crack the whip if you stray. Sorry to here that. I bet you won't miss another call-in for a long, long time if ever again. It's a hard lesson but that's just the way it is in your State.

I think over the past 3 or so years I been in this special monitoring club, I've missed roughly a dozen or so missed calls over that time. None of them were days I was called to "provide." I'm very fortunate nothing ever came of these missed calls. With over 3 years now, I probably test about every 2 months.

My State recently privatized our monitoring from in house BON monitoring to a private contract with a monitoring agency called Relient Behavioral Health. I had a great relationship with my monitoring coordinator at the BON and things were great. I'm a little concerned that with all these changes forthcoming, and with some negative experiences folks report here about their monitoring person, it might not be as good. I am afraid that things are going to change with added requirements. This is where my military background benefits me because I look at this monitoring stuff like the military. They OWN you! You have no choice except to make the best of it or life can be real miserable. Right or wrong, I suck it up and do it! In the big scheme of things, this is really minor. The real test comes after 5 years where I have no "Big Brother" looking over my shoulder. Monitoring gives me 5 years to really get this recovery thing programed in my drug brain. Sustained recovery comes before anything in life, even before my marriage, family and nursing license.