Did I ruin my chances of ever becoming a nurse?

Nurses Recovery

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I recently was accepted to the 2019 Summer ADN program in Broward. Prior to my acceptance and my drug screening, I took a Xanax for anxiety and lack of sleep. I completely forgot that I took the pill and went and did my screening, which came back positive. The problem is that I got a prescription from a different country, which has no database or prescription number. I am pretty sure that I will lose my seat now. My concern is will this prevent me from re-applying to the program? Will it be on my record, therefore hindering my chances of getting into a nursing program at a different school? I have worked so hard for this, and to lose it over half of an anxiety pill makes me sick to my stomach.

In my experience, schools do not compare applicant profiles. This may prevent you from attending the particular school you just got into but will probably not have any effect on your application to other schools.

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Wow a lot of premature negativity in this thread.

I'll start by giving you the benefit of the doubt and close with a positive message for you.

Simple answer:
All you need is a letter from your doctor stating that this is a prescription medication and you took it as indicated (even though the source was questionable).

Option 1 (honesty):
If you do not have an Rx it might be as simple as informing them that the medication does not need to be prescription in the country you came from. Then offer to retest after a reasonable period.

Don't be surprised if they ask you which country and to prove that you were there recently. They are not so gullible and it is easy to verify which countries place alprazolam on a schedule versus which sell OTC. A quick cursory search online suggests some Asian countries such as Thailand and Pakistan do not.

The more detailed answer suggest you may not be sharing the complete story:

If you took this medication with you and consumed it in the U.S., however, you technically violated the law as it shouldn't have been brought into the country. When you pass customs you have to declare your medications and provide prescription. While a lot of people think they can get away with it, getting caught has grave consequences.

Count this as a close call and familiarize yourself with the norms and expectations of nursing schools here and the laws regarding controlled medications. Since you aspire to be a nurse, this information will be useful for the rest of your career.

Option 2 (preferred, better chances, still honest):
Try to book an appointment with a primary care doctor, PMHNP, or Psychiatrist as soon as possible to get an Rx from them. Some PCPs might not be willing to do this without an expert consultation (e.g. a psychiatrist/NP). Share this with the school and this might allay some of their concerns and boost your chances.

There should be some sort of reasonable follow-up from the school stating you failed your test and what recourse, if any, you have. Take advantage of whatever you can, but don't lie.

It is resonable to expect you might not be admitted and might not be eligible to be admitted to this specific college in the future. If so, chalk this up to a learning experience, humble yourself, and try another university or college of nursing.

A lapse in judgment like this will not doom your chances forever, but might just be a setback. Remember that for all grave mistakes that we make in life, we can choose to learn from them and turn them into something positive. If you've burned your bridges with one institution, you still have a great chance at another. The fact you were more-or-less admitted to Broward suggest you have what it takes to get admitted.

Don't beat yourself up over it. Even if you made a grave mistake, I don't think it was intentional or egregious enough that the door to nursing should be closed to you.

There is no permanent record that would prevent you from applying to another nursing program at a different institution.

You will read stories of people failing drug tests for far worse and getting a one-time pass from their college. Sometimes this will require heightened scrutiny at the beginning of your studies.

Hope for the best.



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Dear, OP,

You knew you were going to drug screening and that Xanax is a controlled substance... So, I don't understand how you "forgot" and are you taking it every day?

3
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5 hours ago, sorensic said:

Wow a lot of premature negativity in this thread.

I'll start by giving you the benefit of the doubt and close with a positive message for you.

Simple answer:
All you need is a letter from your doctor stating that this is a prescription medication and you took it as indicated (even though the source was questionable).

Option 1 (honesty):
If you do not have an Rx it might be as simple as informing them that the medication does not need to be prescription in the country you came from. Then offer to retest after a reasonable period.

Don't be surprised if they ask you which country and to prove that you were there recently. They are not so gullible and it is easy to verify which countries place alprazolam on a schedule versus which sell OTC. A quick cursory search online suggests some Asian countries such as Thailand and Pakistan do not.

The more detailed answer suggest you may not be sharing the complete story:

If you took this medication with you and consumed it in the U.S., however, you technically violated the law as it shouldn't have been brought into the country. When you pass customs you have to declare your medications and provide prescription. While a lot of people think they can get away with it, getting caught has grave consequences.

Count this as a close call and familiarize yourself with the norms and expectations of nursing schools here and the laws regarding controlled medications. Since you aspire to be a nurse, this information will be useful for the rest of your career.

Option 2 (preferred, better chances, still honest):
Try to book an appointment with a primary care doctor, PMHNP, or Psychiatrist as soon as possible to get an Rx from them. Some PCPs might not be willing to do this without an expert consultation (e.g. a psychiatrist/NP). Share this with the school and this might allay some of their concerns and boost your chances.

There should be some sort of reasonable follow-up from the school stating you failed your test and what recourse, if any, you have. Take advantage of whatever you can, but don't lie.

It is resonable to expect you might not be admitted and might not be eligible to be admitted to this specific college in the future. If so, chalk this up to a learning experience, humble yourself, and try another university or college of nursing.

A lapse in judgment like this will not doom your chances forever, but might just be a setback. Remember that for all grave mistakes that we make in life, we can choose to learn from them and turn them into something positive. If you've burned your bridges with one institution, you still have a great chance at another. The fact you were more-or-less admitted to Broward suggest you have what it takes to get admitted.

Don't beat yourself up over it. Even if you made a grave mistake, I don't think it was intentional or egregious enough that the door to nursing should be closed to you.

There is no permanent record that would prevent you from applying to another nursing program at a different institution.

You will read stories of people failing drug tests for far worse and getting a one-time pass from their college. Sometimes this will require heightened scrutiny at the beginning of your studies.

Hope for the best.



SORENSIC...Thank you for your advice, your honesty and your words of encouragement.

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12 hours ago, RNinheart said:

Dear, OP,

You knew you were going to drug screening and that Xanax is a controlled substance... So, I don't understand how you "forgot" and are you taking it every day?

This. I drink wine a few times a week but didn't have any the day before my drug screen even though I knew it wasn't being tested for... just because. How do you "forget" and take something like Xanax?? I was nervous about the 1/2 daily Claritin-D tablet I take for seasonal allergies even though I have a RX for it!

1
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You're not a nurse yet, where are they going to send you? It's not illegal to have a positive drug screen for Xanax. Where it may get complicated is if you push through to go to nursing school. Then, they could request that you submit to monitoring because they'll ask how you came by the Xanax? It's getting harder to bring narcotics into countries without proper labeling. So, how did you smuggle Xanax into the country without a proper label identifying the prescriber and that it's medically necessary? Do you see where I'm going with this? Every explanation you offer up will just generate another question... Be careful not to make things worse trying to explain it.

1
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On 3/22/2019 at 12:40 PM, RNinheart said:

Dear, OP,

You knew you were going to drug screening and that Xanax is a controlled substance... So, I don't understand how you "forgot" and are you taking it every day?

I FORGOT because it is not a medication that I take often or on a regular basis...I FORGOT because in my excitement of being in accepted into the program , I wanted to get everything done as quick as possible. I understand that as an outsider looking in this seems suspect....However, do not be so quick to judge or generalize. If I was a regular user or an abuser, with something to hide....don't you think I would have gone to great lengths to conceal my habit? That is not the case here. It was an innocent lack of judgement and sadly one that may cost me. I came on here to get perspective from others whom may have faced similar situations.

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22 hours ago, BSNbound21 said:

This. I drink wine a few times a week but didn't have any the day before my drug screen even though I knew it wasn't being tested for... just because. How do you "forget" and take something like Xanax?? I was nervous about the 1/2 daily Claritin-D tablet I take for seasonal allergies even though I have a RX for it!

2 hours ago by Moonbaby79

79 Visitors; 8 Posts

On 3/22/2019 at 12:40 PM, RNinheart said:

Dear, OP,

You knew you were going to drug screening and that Xanax is a controlled substance... So, I don't understand how you "forgot" and are you taking it every day?

I FORGOT because it is not a medication that I take often or on a regular basis...I FORGOT because in my excitement of being accepted into the program , I wanted to get everything done as quick as possible. I understand that as an outsider looking in this seems suspect....However, do not be so quick to judge or generalize. If I was a regular user or an abuser, with something to hide....don't you think I would have gone to great lengths to conceal my habit? That is not the case here. It was an innocent lack of judgement and sadly one that may cost me. I came on here to get perspective from others whom may have faced similar situations.

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Specializes in OR.

I think OP is already beating herself up enough over this. She came here for opinions on a question. Did she ruin her chances, maybe, maybe not. Not to get flamed over what she sees now as a bad decision.

As far as having gotten it outside of the country, I’ve gone through TSA with the armload of meds that I take every dang day stuffed in my carry on and not said a word and nobody as batted an eyelash. So yeah, it’s very easy to not be paying attention and bring something like that with you.

Not connecting what it can do? I have heard of people getting whacked with a contract (and getting sentenced to IOP) for the crime of having taken a Tylenol with codeine that they got while in Canada where it is OTC. And those folks were ALREADY nurses.

To OP..deep breath...my opinion is that you might be okay. If indeed this particular program does say no, you can move on to another program with no repercussions and the knowledge of what to expect..

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Specializes in LTC, TCU, Drug Rehab, Med/Surg, ICU Stepdown.

You may want to go online and look into the schools drug policy. They may have info on what happens in this situation. As others have suggested, I think your best option is to go an RX from the original doctor that covers the date that you took it. If you can't do that get a new prescription ASAP. The program might just send you a rejection letter based off the positive test results. The other option is the ask you to account for this. I am telling you right now, If you walked into my office and said you got a Rx in another country and have no documentation to show for it I would be a hard no AND I would probably remember your name so when you applied in the future that would be in the back of my mind. If at minimum you had proof of a diagnosis for why you would need Xanax, not an RX but just a diagnosis that would help. You would still have to explain how you "legally" acquired it out of the country. But even then all these schools have integrity policies. As an instructor I would assume a person with integrity would have Rx for the medications they are taking. I don't know the whole story and don't need to know. Based on the info stated here I would extremely nervous to have you as a student. If you get a chance to explain be prepared! Good luck and keep us posted on what happened.

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I too have gotten meds into and out of a country. My point is how people in positions of authority tend to view it. They never err on the side of compassion, they always think the worst. It was business as usual for me. If I couldn't take my drugs, I didn't go. In the face of 'drug smuggling' it was pretty small time and I sure as hell had no intention of sharing. But these are 'normies' that we're talking about here. Sphincter police...

In the future, if your prescription has no label, you're better off telling them you were having a panic attack and took one of grandma's Xanax.

My opinion only, take it for what it's worth.

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Specializes in LTC, TCU, Drug Rehab, Med/Surg, ICU Stepdown.

I realized I didn't actually answer your original question of "Did I ruin my chances of ever becoming a nurse?". Absolutely not!! You just might have to pick a different school.

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