Hey everyone, I want to be honest here. I work for one of the monitoring programs. I would love to hear your input. I am always researching and found this forum a long long time ago and it has truly impacted how I feel about the toll/burden/stress and onward these programs put on people. I am not here to hurt/catch anyone and never have been -just want to make that clear. I respect this as an anonymous forum like I respect my participants confidentially without question.
My my question is what can we do to help? What can we do differently? I have read many posts here about people feeling they did not need monitoring - or at least not 5 years. Tell me I care and want to hear.
Finally, as an employee of one of these programs I often struggle with feeling intrusive relating to simple things in a participants life that I need documentation for. How can we become more of a partner and less of a weight/burden? How can programs be more supportive?
I am an RN who went through over 3 years of hell with my State's Board of Nursing. The system sets you up to fail from the beginning. I actually turned myself in and would NEVER suggest to any person in the Medical field to do this. I would advise them to get help on their own.
Like everyone has been saying, the Board expected my to tell my potential employers that I was in the monitoring program. It was up to me whether I told them during the interview or when I was offered the position. I chose to be upfront and honest, and tell all of the potential employers I was in the monitoring program during the interview process. Because if I didn't, I felt dishonest. I went through so many interviews with either the employer completely changing their tone when I told them or never calling me back. When I finally was able to get a job, after an entire year working for $9 an hour barely able to feed my children and going bankrupt, I learned the Physician Owned Surgicenter was corrupt. I mean the urine screens alone are $50 to $100 each. I was given 30-36 a year. That was almost $10k for that alone. Then, I had to see a CADC every 2 to 4 weeks and pay those copays. I had to move in with my mother and still live there. I quit the Surgicenter for fear of losing my license. Went another 6 months without a job. Finally have another job in Mental Health, but as an RN with 16 years experience, I'm only making $25/hr. That's what I was offered and I felt I had to take the job because I needed the money. Luckily, the I'm no longer being monitored and the monitoring does not show up on my license, so I'm now applying for higher paying jobs.
I feel Nurse should be treated differently based on the degree of what they have done. Criminals in this country are, why can't this be done for nurses.
There is already a huge stigma regarding mental health and substance abuse disorder. Monitoring programs are adding to it.
The only things I found helpful in the monitoring program were the urine screens for substances NOT alcohol because there are way too many false positives and they are not even admissible in court. I also found that seeing my CADC really helped me get through some PTSD that was the root of the cause of my abuse of my prescription pain medication. In December, I will have 4 years clean. I live a much better life and never think about going back and using pain meds to escape.
The person who was my monitor, was rarely available. I tried to call her about every 2 weeks, sometimes it would be a month. She always asked the same questions in about 3 minutes and never was really helpful. I don't even know what state she was in, because our state is so small, I think she was either based out of South Dakota or the State next to ours.
Specializes in ICU/community health/school nursing.
As another long-time lurker.....if this is a real post by a real person asking a real question: In nursing, almost everything that we do is evidence-based. Is there any evidence that these monitoring programs are effective? That either monitoring produces safer nursing or that it's a deterrent?
Trac78
3 Posts
I am an RN who went through over 3 years of hell with my State's Board of Nursing. The system sets you up to fail from the beginning. I actually turned myself in and would NEVER suggest to any person in the Medical field to do this. I would advise them to get help on their own.
Like everyone has been saying, the Board expected my to tell my potential employers that I was in the monitoring program. It was up to me whether I told them during the interview or when I was offered the position. I chose to be upfront and honest, and tell all of the potential employers I was in the monitoring program during the interview process. Because if I didn't, I felt dishonest. I went through so many interviews with either the employer completely changing their tone when I told them or never calling me back. When I finally was able to get a job, after an entire year working for $9 an hour barely able to feed my children and going bankrupt, I learned the Physician Owned Surgicenter was corrupt. I mean the urine screens alone are $50 to $100 each. I was given 30-36 a year. That was almost $10k for that alone. Then, I had to see a CADC every 2 to 4 weeks and pay those copays. I had to move in with my mother and still live there. I quit the Surgicenter for fear of losing my license. Went another 6 months without a job. Finally have another job in Mental Health, but as an RN with 16 years experience, I'm only making $25/hr. That's what I was offered and I felt I had to take the job because I needed the money. Luckily, the I'm no longer being monitored and the monitoring does not show up on my license, so I'm now applying for higher paying jobs.
I feel Nurse should be treated differently based on the degree of what they have done. Criminals in this country are, why can't this be done for nurses.
There is already a huge stigma regarding mental health and substance abuse disorder. Monitoring programs are adding to it.
The only things I found helpful in the monitoring program were the urine screens for substances NOT alcohol because there are way too many false positives and they are not even admissible in court. I also found that seeing my CADC really helped me get through some PTSD that was the root of the cause of my abuse of my prescription pain medication. In December, I will have 4 years clean. I live a much better life and never think about going back and using pain meds to escape.
The person who was my monitor, was rarely available. I tried to call her about every 2 weeks, sometimes it would be a month. She always asked the same questions in about 3 minutes and never was really helpful. I don't even know what state she was in, because our state is so small, I think she was either based out of South Dakota or the State next to ours.