Be careful in monitoring with urine and blood tests like peth!

Nurses Recovery

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I have a friend who is in a 5 year monitoring program with 3 Urine etg per month and probably around 2-3 peth a year.  She's in a very tough state with a strict monitoring program.  She's already past her 2 year mark I believe.  

Anyway, she apparently drank 6-7 drinks on a long weekend, and then had a random peth right on the Monday.  She already had a peth just recently.  The peth came back very low positive, at 24.  Below 20 is reported abstinence.  

Now, they are making her go to a 96 hour evaluation to determine the next steps.  She is saying she ate beef burgundy as to why she has a positive peth.  But I think she knows also that the 96 hour evaluation is just a "show" and that they will recommend rehab again.  If that happens, she would need to put her job on hold, or more likely lose her current job.  

Don't try to mess around here folks!  Because if your program has random peth tests, you can't beat that.

Healer555 said:

Curious. Is a keystrokes error saying a person is incompetent or impaired? If so can't ir be easily rectified by contacting tge person who made the error? 

I have no idea. All I know is, many people are in monitoring programs without truly having a SUD. We agree on that. Where we disagree is on the nurse in a monitoring program that drank 7 beers on a Saturday and tested positive on Mondsy and is now "concerned." Her decision was either ignorance/stupidity or narcissistic (angry and believing the rules don't apply to her). Now, you can call that lack of compassion or "labeling" all you want, but you deep down know and I know that my statement is true. What would you call her decision? Is it smart? Of course not. Is it wise or brilliant or the right thing to do? Common sense tells us that her decision was foolishness.

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Steven Thompson said:

Don't say "us". You don't speak for the entire message board and wasn't voted to represent everyone, so stop the red herring by using the word "us" and using the 4th grade red herring of building a coalition."  What did happen in this thread? Several people called it for what it was for the nurse in a recovery/monitoring program that drank 7 beers and wondered why she tested positive for alcohol. They pretty much called it stupid like I did and it was that....stupid. calling it stupid isn't labeling or lack of compassion, it's calling it what it is....stupid.

And no some of 'us" do NOT deserve more compassion or less compassion. It doesn't matter if we are in a monitoring program and have an SUD or not. We ALL equally deserve the SAME compassion and part of compassion is Honesty and Calling out bad behavior for what it is, and equally important, calling out and rewarding good behavior when it's done. 

Us is any people who don't have a SUD who are going through this just to keep our licenses. You who have a SUD seem to have needed a monitoring agreement.  I'll agree to disagree. 

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Healer555 said:

Us is any people who don't have a SUD who are going through this just to keep our licenses. You who have a SUD seem to have needed a monitoring agreement.  I'll agree to disagree. 

Fair enough and we agree to disagree. Nothing wrong with that and it's what makes us human. One thing to keep in mind is that you wrote, "You who have a SUD seem to have needed a monitoring agreement." That's not your call or My call. That's the Boards Call (unfortunately) and even if someone doesn't have SUD as gets a monitoring agreement it's not our call. It's the Boards. I'm not saying it's right either. I think it's wrong, but it's not our call.

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****UPDATE****

It's been a while since I first posted the story and had a chance to talk to this friend and the process she went through - so wanted to update so people are aware and help.  

Since the positive peth of 24, she had to go to a 96 hour evaluation.  We all knew what the evaluation would say since all the EVALS ARE JUST FAKE.  They recommended 4-6 weeks of a partial hospitalization program with residence or residential program.  There was absolutely no excuse or anything that she would say in the 96 hour eval that they would change her mind.  The eval cost $3200.  

She found a partial hospitalization program WITH residence in FL and went to that - it was expensive.  At the end of the 4th week, they extended her to the 6th week (since the recommendation was 4-6 weeks).  BTW, the 96 hour eval was also done at this same place in FL.  It was difficult for her to get a program elsewhere and the monitoring agency kept making up excuses, which leads to the next point:

ALL THE DUMB EVALS ARE MADE SO YOU ATTEND THEIR OWN PROGRAM, for money-making purposes.  It's all a scheme.  

She is now out of the 6 week program and back home, and she had 6 months of time extended onto her monitoring, so now it will be 5.5 years total.  (I was expecting much worse than 6 months, so I told her she got lucky).  

Unfortunately, they added BACTRACK breathalyzer monitoring to her urine etgs and peth routine.  She gets one of those BACTRACK devices that she carries, and 3 times a day randomly, she has to blow into it for breathalyzer alcohol detection, while it records you doing it by video to make sure it's you.  That's probably like $200/month by itself!

So now she's in monitoring for 6 more months and a LOT more work with this breathalyzer 3X a day!  These monitoring programs will twist and turn and pound you into the ground with no hint of recovery or how to really help you.

 

https://monitoring.bactrack.com/

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Universe93B said:

****UPDATE****

It's been a while since I first posted the story and had a chance to talk to this friend and the process she went through - so wanted to update so people are aware and help.  

Since the positive peth of 24, she had to go to a 96 hour evaluation.  We all knew what the evaluation would say since all the EVALS ARE JUST FAKE.  They recommended 4-6 weeks of a partial hospitalization program with residence or residential program.  There was absolutely no excuse or anything that she would say in the 96 hour eval that they would change her mind.  The eval cost $3200.  

She found a partial hospitalization program WITH residence in FL and went to that - it was expensive.  At the end of the 4th week, they extended her to the 6th week (since the recommendation was 4-6 weeks).  BTW, the 96 hour eval was also done at this same place in FL.  It was difficult for her to get a program elsewhere and the monitoring agency kept making up excuses, which leads to the next point:

ALL THE DUMB EVALS ARE MADE SO YOU ATTEND THEIR OWN PROGRAM, for money-making purposes.  It's all a scheme.  

She is now out of the 6 week program and back home, and she had 6 months of time extended onto her monitoring, so now it will be 5.5 years total.  (I was expecting much worse than 6 months, so I told her she got lucky).  

Unfortunately, they added BACTRACK breathalyzer monitoring to her urine etgs and peth routine.  She gets one of those BACTRACK devices that she carries, and 3 times a day randomly, she has to blow into it for breathalyzer alcohol detection, while it records you doing it by video to make sure it's you.  That's probably like $200/month by itself!

So now she's in monitoring for 6 more months and a LOT more work with this breathalyzer 3X a day!  These monitoring programs will twist and turn and pound you into the ground with no hint of recovery or how to really help you.

 

https://monitoring.bactrack.com/

6 months really isn't bad. She has to blow when she gets a phone alert? During work or driving or sleep? How is that even possible? It's not really compatible with life in a remotely normal way. 

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She got EXTREMELY lucky. I was 3 months away from finishing. 5year contract and failed a peth test by one point (21). I had to sign a new 5 year contract in addition to the eval and treatment. So that will be an entire decade total.

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Healer555 said:

6 months really isn't bad. She has to blow when she gets a phone alert? During work or driving or sleep? How is that even possible? It's not really compatible with life in a remotely normal way. 

Yep, so the app gives you a phone alert, and then you have to fire up the app, it starts recording, and you blow into the device and the result is sent to them.  You have to test within 30 min of the notification, so you do have some time to find a private area I guess.  Not sure what to do if you're in a job where it's hard to even take a bathroom break?   It's also during awake hours 3X a day, so probably from like 8am to 9pm, it can test you.  You can probably change this according to your schedule, like if you work night shifts.  

I'm thinking depending on how much you drink, they can catch many people at the 8am or earlier breathe test.

Jtc4583 said:

She got EXTREMELY lucky. I was 3 months away from finishing. 5year contract and failed a peth test by one point (21). I had to sign a new 5 year contract in addition to the eval and treatment. So that will be an entire decade total.

That's insane!  There was no even asking of you on how you did the 5 years and what you think the treatment should be after the peth of 21?

Can I please ask how the peth of 21 came about?  Did you have light drinking a few days before, or something else, do you remember the time length?

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Jtc4583 said:

She got EXTREMELY lucky. I was 3 months away from finishing. 5year contract and failed a peth test by one point (21). I had to sign a new 5 year contract in addition to the eval and treatment. So that will be an entire decade total.

It was a real fail and not a false positive? 

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Ugh. Let this be a lesson to follow all the stupid rules to a T. All of these programs will chew you up and spit you out and even having a day extension is torture!! I will say only a 6 month extension is extremely lucky despite all of the expenses she incurred for rehab. Hope she is doing well!

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Jtc4583 said:

She got EXTREMELY lucky. I was 3 months away from finishing. 5year contract and failed a peth test by one point (21). I had to sign a new 5 year contract in addition to the eval and treatment. So that will be an entire decade total.

That is absolutely horrifying. I would have had a nervous breakdown if faced with that. Did you speak with a lawyer before agreeing to the new contract? 

Is there an option in Florida for monitoring outside IPN? E.g. direct monitoring through the Board which results in a permanent mark on your license but at least allows for some due process. 

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Healer555 said:

  Not everyone in monitoring has a sud. I assumed this person didn't and was just enjoying a few adult beverages.  Maybe I was incorrect.  Either way, the point for those of us in monitoring is to be done with it. 

But the thing is, it doesn't matter whether they do or not.  If the agreement says no illicit substances or alcohol, then thats exactly what is expected.  I see posts here and talk to nurses in my state monitoring program who drink or use THC and then act all shocked when they fail a drug screen & have to be reevaluated.  What did they think was going to happen?   Someone who doesn't have an SUD should have no problem abstaining from alcohol/drugs for a prescribed amount of time.   

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DistressedRN said:

But the thing is, it doesn't matter whether they do or not.  If the agreement says no illicit substances or alcohol, then thats exactly what is expected.  I see posts here and talk to nurses in my state monitoring program who drink or use THC and then act all shocked when they fail a drug screen & have to be reevaluated.  What did they think was going to happen?   Someone who doesn't have an SUD should have no problem abstaining from alcohol/drugs for a prescribed amount of time.   

Maybe that's what you were told.  I had no idea what I could or couldn't take or use when I started.  I learned by reading here.. 

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