Diverted drugs, got caught, fired and arrested...

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I am an RN. I made a terrible mistake and diverted drugs at the hospital I worked at. I got caught, then fired, then immediately arrested. I was recommended for outpatient treatment for 9 weeks and I am 56 days clean. I am a few weeks into a four month probation. Then the charges will be dropped. Law enforcement notified the department of health and I will tell them my situation, and how I am in recovery and eager to continue working as a nurse, and eager to join IPN if it will help me save my license. It will take several months for the BON to make their decision and in the meantime I can work and was in fact offered a new job in a different type of setting where I would not have to administer narcotics. My dilemma today is that before I start this new job I think I need to sit down with my new manager and honestly tell her that 1) I am on probation for the next 3 months, and my probation officer will be calling to verify my employment and let her know that I am being supervised by her. (my manager would not have to do anything). 2) I also want to tell my new manager that it will be very likely that in a few months I will be entering the IPN program, again in my new position I would not be handling narcotics and frequent drug testing, and the only thing she would have to do is send in the quartly reports they require. This new manager seems really nice and down to earth and I would like to start out at this new place knowing now if this will be a major problem for her or not. Is this the right thing to do? How do you think that would go over?

Specializes in Psych ICU, addictions.

I agree: get the lawyer ASAP. As Jack said, the BON's not your friend. You need someone on your side who will represent and fight for your interests and yours alone...as well as help present you to the BON in the best light possible.

Best of luck--I hope it works out for you.

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Specializes in Mental Health, Short Stay.

Jack is right! Unfortunately before I self reported to the board, I had only one nurse (in recovery and on BON monitoring) who was advising me to tell them everything (in an effort to "clear my conscious") but with much hesitation, I complied. It's interesting, how there are many views regarding initially dealing with BONs. Today, I have a much better insight about BONs because of what some of you have taught me! I find it very fascinating the vast differences in each State's BON. I can honestly say I have been very lucky with my state requirements compared to some of the other requirements I read on this board.

Sometimes in life we don't cross that bridge until we come to it. All of us fortunately never planned our addiction and have no clue what we are facing. If I could have a re-do, I would do somethings differently with dealing with my BON. I was sucking bubbles at the that time and my head was squarely up my #$%! What's done is done now. Most new nurses that come to us are in the same situation as I was and they are either in the process of board investigation or have already completed it. They are already at the boards mercy like the rest of us. Its usually too late for legal assistance to have much impact and have already spilled their guts. I left inpatient treatment AMA after completing 30 days because they wanted me to self report to the BON. At that time, I was not ready and waited another month. Unfortunately, I still did not have my S#$% together.

My sponsor then and now would have advised me differently.

Hey, just maybe, that's the way it was supposed to be anyway? Bottom line: I am much better off today than I have ever been, hands down! Sure, my nursing career is not where it once was, but that's only one part of my life today.

Too bad we can't get to these nurses before or during their involvement with BONs. Man, how that would have benefited me. I can only think of two nurses prior to my mishap that were in recovery and monitored over my 10+ years in nursing. I am sure there were more that I was not aware of.

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What state do you live in? It's true there is a lot of difference in each state's BON.

I live in Missouri which has one of the most user friendly BON I've seen so far (if there is such a thing!)

I was also arrested and hired an attorney immediately. My license was not suspended. I kept right on working for TWO years. Thats how long it took for anything to be settled with the BON or the criminal charges. No one gets in a hurry about anything and in the mean time you are walking on pins and needles waiting. I could pass narcotics and do everything I normally did the whole time while they were investigating.

My attorney immediately got me into a 12 week outpatient counseling program because he knew the BON would require it and he wanted me to have everything required completed before they even offered a settlement agreement. He also immediately got me into a pain management program which prescribed me non-narcotic pain meds and therapy (which by the way if I had known those places existed, I wouldn't have ended up in the mess I was in in the first place.)

We don't have the IPN thing in Mo and when the BON FINALLY got around to giving me my settlement agreement I ahd already completed everything they required. My counselor sent a notorized letter stating I didn't need any further treatment and I would not benefit from going to all the AA meetings etc. So I was done with the whole deal except the drug testing.

My criminal charges finally got settled around the same time after a hundred continuences. So I then had five long years of not only probation from the BON but also the county I was arrested in, which required me to see a probation officer each months for six months then I just had to call in. In reality it seemed like I was on probation for seven years because I had spent two years waiting and wondering what was going to happen to me. It would take to long to get into the whole story here but when I was arrested the police came to myhouse actually searching for something my son was in trouble for and my son and his friends (unknownst to me) had all kinds of pills in their room. So during the search they not only found the pills I had taken from work (I'm not defending my actions in anyway, but these were vicoden we were going to flush and I just took them instead)but also found the pills in my son's room. So since they were in my house I was charged for every different kind of pill they found.

In the end I was charged with five counts of possesion of a controlled substance and five counts of stealing. I had to plead gulty to one count of each and ended up with an SIS (suspended imposition sentence) and got five years probation and 15 days in county jail. Never did lose my license even after all this!

I live in a small town (well, about 13000 people) and the local radio station played the top news every hour on the hour for 24 hours and guess who was the top news! Me. My aunt called and asked me about it because she heard it on the radio. Beleive me it was five years of total hell. But I'm sure there are people who have it a lot worse than me. At least I had friends in the community and got a ADON job at a local nursing home with no problem at all, I never lost any work time ever.

Luckily the county terminated my probabtion after three years because I was a "model criminal" I guess. After practically begging the BON even they lifted my probation a whole year early (which is unheard of I hear) because I wa getting ready to sit for nurse practitioner boards (yes, I picked myself up, went on with my life and got my NP degree) and I really didn't think they would let me sit for boards if I was still on probation.

Also lucky for me I got in right under the radar where I only had to drug test four times a year instead of the calling in every day system.

Anyway, after all this rambling, yes, get an attorney! And depending on what state you live in perhaps you can get in an outpatient program NOW before everything hits the fan. Good luck

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Specializes in icu,ccu,sicu,crna.

Self report to your states diversion program if your state has one. Get yourself into a recovery program and start recording all your recovery efforts. Go to meetings daily, if you can, and get your signatures that you attended. Get a sponsor. These efforts will help when the BON or even the investigator sees you. Let the investigator know all about your recovery efforts, NOT YOUR DIVERSION. Don't admit to anything. Get an attorney. Good luck.

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DIXICUP- Hey there, I have a quick question regarding the NP license. First off, what state are you in? I am in California, an RN (currently in an RN-BSN program and thinking of switching to a NP program, just because my current RN-BSN program won't let me do clinicals until probation ends). I hear that after your probation ends, being an NP, you will have restrictions on your license? Is that true? I really don't want to sit on my hands while I wait until probation is over with in 2015. Is finding an NP job more difficult since you have completed the program. Any advice will be helpful. Thanks!!

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Specializes in Adult Internal Medicine.
DIXICUP- Hey there I have a quick question regarding the NP license. First off, what state are you in? I am in California, an RN (currently in an RN-BSN program and thinking of switching to a NP program, just because my current RN-BSN program won't let me do clinicals until probation ends). I hear that after your probation ends, being an NP, you will have restrictions on your license? Is that true? I really don't want to sit on my hands while I wait until probation is over with in 2015. Is finding an NP job more difficult since you have completed the program. Any advice will be helpful. Thanks!![/quote']

I don't know of any accredited NP program that allow you to do clinical rotations without and active RN license. Best of luck though, getting prescriptive authority and appointments will be a struggle but I am sure it can be done.

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Erem

I am most concerned with the criminal aspects that can happen from diversion. You say you were immediately arrested: did you hire a separate lawyer for your criminal charges and from your issues with board of nursing?

Have you ever heard of anyone just surrendering their nursing license and solely dealing with the criminal aspects? Any input would be greatly appreciated. I know this was a long time ago but I am on the throws of the beginning anxiety and sadness and would appreciate anyone who understands what I'm going through to comment.

:( Help.

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Thanks for sharing the story. Mine is similar in that it involves a drug-related criminal charge though somewhat complicated because the initial felony charges were dropped and no new charges were ever initiated. (Though, it is too early to pursue expungement, as only 15 months have passed).

I am a nurse practitioner and prescriber which is why my story is different.

I have not yet heard from the board about my prescriber license, yet keep in mind that I have TWO other licenses: controlled dangerous substance and DEA licenses, which I have to work on getting back with a separate lawyer.

Anyway, my prescriber license is coming up for renewal in July. Lawyer is suggesting that it will be then (basically when I will be renewing) that they will use the time to address the issue and determine my punishment, i.e. whether my license will be suspended, under stipulation, etc and assign me to their rehab program.

I'm just so surprised how long it has taken for the BON to process this. Meanwhile, I have not practiced since the time of the crime (Sept 2015).

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@PurpleRN1227 

 

 

 

 

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