I am an RN for 2 yrs now and recently had a nurse claim narcs were missing when she was given meds. It was fine when we counted them after my shift, but she claims the count must have been wrong.
I do not do drugs and would not. I worked ten years for my education while being a single parent to three kids, no way would I risk it.
They asked me and the nurse prior to my shift to do a drug test. She got hers back yesterday - I am still waiting on mine.
I gave them a list of all the supplements I take (vitamins, fish oils etc) and mentioned that I drink some herbal teas. Out of sheer anxiousness I started looking on the net for what could cause false positives on tests. Imagine my surprise that a tea I drink might show a positive test for cocaine!!! OMG!!!
The tea I drink is made by Teavana - a chain of premium tea stores. It is called "My Morning Mate" and is touted to have as much caffeine as coffee but with less jitteriness.
It is not just nursing that is so anal about drug testing employees. I spent ten years in aviation and all the places I worked we were part of an FAA random drug testing program. Sounds good on the surface, however I was the only one picked for the "random" drug tests constantly because I was the only one in the hangar who everyone was sure would be clean.
That gets the confidence down a bit.
We were too busy once when my name popped up "randomly" so the CEO told me to put it off awhile while I finished the plane first. Turned into a 2 day delay since they wouldn't let me go spend the 3 hours it usually took waiting at the certified collection clinic to pee in the cup... Then we got to meet a couple of the FAA Drug Testing experts who made it a very strong point to speak to me in an office for an hour with the CEO while they threatened us. It was surreal to get anti-drug lectures from the FAA delivered to the only 2 Tea-totalers in the building, while almost all the mechanics in the hangar were either hung over, high, or still slightly drunk from the night before...
Yeah, I can't wait to get into nursing...It does at least involve dealing with a higher form of life, coworker wise.
Specializes in Trauma Surgery, Nursing Management.
Hey Platypus,
SO GLAD that everything came out negative (ok...pun intended:)).
My mother was a cancer researcher for NIEHS, and the staff were routinely tested for drugs. The strongest drug that Mom ever did was Excedrin. Imagine her surprise when she was escorted out of the lab because her results came back positive for opiates!
Mom LOVED loved loved lemon poppy seed muffins. She had one almost everyday. The poppy seeds caused the test to come back positive. Being the strong minded and assertive red head that she was, she INSISTED that her boss write a memo to all of the lab techs, administrators, and scientists that she worked with explaining why she was escorted out. I have never seen her boss work so fast! Ironically, Mom worked in the toxicology department, and a new study was started regarding foods that produce false negative results in UDS. Yeah, you could say she was angry!
I am very happy for you, Platypus. This is not an easy event to endure.
Specializes in Emergency Dept. Trauma. Pediatrics.
Every time I do a drug screen (never a random, it's always been for employment) I get nervous. I don't do drugs. This past time, I was especially nervous because I've been taking some medications for back spasms/sciatica (not narcs, only Flexeril and Indocin). And that's all I could think about for 48 hours afterwards.
So to the person who suggested she's nervous because she's guilty of something....pbpbpbpbphh! (that was me blowing a raspberry)
Same here. I get so worried about it even when I know I have nothing to worry about. My first nursing job (and only lol) I was even more of a wreck because so much was on the line and my hopes were way up. I was honest about some health problems and I have Rx for Ambien and percocet and I was honest about that. I stopped taking it a couple weeks before the test because I didn't want to even have to worry about it even with valid RX. But still I was a nervous wreck until I got the official, Your UA was good and BackGround stuff came back good.
It's just a mental thing more then anything I think. Just like NCLEX. After I found out I passed and calmed down, I looked back and really it wasn't that hard. It for sure wasn't harder then the tests we had in school. At the time though I was sure I was doomed and failed it in 75 questions and no way I passed. LOL
Specializes in Clinical Research, Outpt Women's Health.
OP - so glad you had a good resolution.
DeMYLinated - so sorry I called you delaminated!:lol2::lol2::lol2: Thanks for the links. Amazing how many things we take all the time (NSAIDS!) can cause positive results. Scary!
Specializes in Infectious Disease, Neuro, Research.
Hey Platypus,
SO GLAD that everything came out negative (ok...pun intended:)).
My mother was a cancer researcher for NIEHS, and the staff were routinely tested for drugs. The strongest drug that Mom ever did was Excedrin. Imagine her surprise when she was escorted out of the lab because her results came back positive for opiates!
Mom LOVED loved loved lemon poppy seed muffins. She had one almost everyday. The poppy seeds caused the test to come back positive. Being the strong minded and assertive red head that she was, she INSISTED that her boss write a memo to all of the lab techs, administrators, and scientists that she worked with explaining why she was escorted out. I have never seen her boss work so fast! Ironically, Mom worked in the toxicology department, and a new study was started regarding foods that produce false negative results in UDS. Yeah, you could say she was angry!
I am very happy for you, Platypus. This is not an easy event to endure.
When in doubt, find out if the lab is NIDA certified; very, very few are. If they are not, their results are generally about as good as whizzing in the wind, and a tech holding their finger in the breeze. For poppy seeds to show a clinical variance (+positive+), you'd have to eat something like 40-odd pounds of the seeds themselves almost immediately before the test.
Pretty asinine for you to even say this. I was drug tested on the spot after a nurse "accused" me of taking narcs when it was actually her who miscounted. I've never been so ticked off and humiliated in my ENTIRE life. I have never touched drugs in my life so of course, it was NEGATIVE but the fact of the matter is...it never should have gotten to that point. Absurd! I hope you never are put in this situation...if you are, you might just change your tune.
When that nurse learned that it was she who had miscounted, did she apologize? I don't blame you for being ******. I would definitely have given her hell for that later.
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For poppy seeds to show a clinical variance (+positive+), you'd have to eat something like 40-odd pounds of the seeds themselves almost immediately before the test.
avionics
17 Posts
It is not just nursing that is so anal about drug testing employees. I spent ten years in aviation and all the places I worked we were part of an FAA random drug testing program. Sounds good on the surface, however I was the only one picked for the "random" drug tests constantly because I was the only one in the hangar who everyone was sure would be clean.
That gets the confidence down a bit.
We were too busy once when my name popped up "randomly" so the CEO told me to put it off awhile while I finished the plane first. Turned into a 2 day delay since they wouldn't let me go spend the 3 hours it usually took waiting at the certified collection clinic to pee in the cup... Then we got to meet a couple of the FAA Drug Testing experts who made it a very strong point to speak to me in an office for an hour with the CEO while they threatened us. It was surreal to get anti-drug lectures from the FAA delivered to the only 2 Tea-totalers in the building, while almost all the mechanics in the hangar were either hung over, high, or still slightly drunk from the night before...
Yeah, I can't wait to get into nursing...It does at least involve dealing with a higher form of life, coworker wise.