Evaluation scaries

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Hey everyone!

I am new to the site and I am in need of some help/advice. Last month I was accused of diverting drugs from a hospital in SC while on a travel assignment. I am guilty. I feel horrible for what I have done. I took some narcotics a few times and took them with a friend. I was never physically dependent. I am being charged criminally by the hospital, but have not yet received my charges. I was told to contact the RPP program in SC and report to the sc BON. I have done both and signed my contract last week and they referred me to an evaluator to "receive a diagnosis or not." From what I have read.. it is in my best interest NOT to see an evaluator that they recommend. Do I have a choice? Does anyone know of a fair evaluator in SC? What can I expect at this evaluation? Can I expect a hair/drug test? I am so scared and overwhelmed. Any advice or recommendations would be SO SO GREATLY appreciated!

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I don't know anything about South Carolina BON. However when I signed my contract I pretty much agreed to do what they say so unless things are way different down south you are gonna comply or get thrown out of the monitoring program which will result in losing you ability to be a nurse. I wish you luck but that's my experience

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I think maybe what you've read about not using the evaluator that is recommended has more to do with the fact that often they will recommend an evaluator who is affiliated with an inpatient treatment program, therefore that evaluator is going to insist that you need inpatient treatment. An independent evaluator is more likely to recommend outpatient treatment, assuming they're not associated with any inpatient facilities. However, you don't generally get the choice whether or not to do the evaluation with their recommended evaluators, you just hopefully (I did anyway) will be given a list of doctors who you can contact for the evaluation, and you need to choose one who is independent of any inpatient facility.

I have no personal experience with SC however.

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Thanks for the feedback! I was told to go this week for a walk in evaluation with a treatment facility called keystone in SC. I guess there is no asking to be seen instead by an evaluator of my choosing off of the BON approved independent evaluators?

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Is there a list like that? TPAPN gave me 3 names and I could choose from them. I just picked mine randomly, and got lucky. I was recommended to go to IOP (intensive outpatient therapy). A specific IOP that was a very long drive from my house, for 3 evenings a week, for something like 12 weeks I think. However, because I did some research and found a place closer to my house, and offered day time sessions (I brought up my difficulty driving at night...safety issue ;) ) TPAPN allowed me to use my chosen IOP, which was only 8 weeks.

Keystone looks like they have both inpatient and outpatient services...so hopefully you won't get railroaded into their inpatient treatment. Good luck!

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Yeah this sounds familiar enough to be flashback inducing. I was evaluated by a group that ran inpatient & outpatient facilities. Guess where I wound up? At both of them till my insurance stopped writing checks.

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Specializes in OR.

Ditto with the flashback inducing, except the ****hole I wound up At, I am pretty sure did not take insurance. A I recall, they'd take the pittance a policy offered if your policy paid for ‘out of network'. You can bet they did not participate in any HMO\PPO networks. ( would have required too much of a paper trail.)

I know who I have to thank for that creepy, unethical, nasty, PTSD inducing experience.

I am in agreement with everyone else. You may have to go to who they tell you to go to, but pick whoever is not associated with any kind of treatment center because naturally you will need whatever they happen to so conveniently offer and will be able to get you into immediately.

It's all about the money, honey!

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This may sound crazy... but has anyone just said "to hell with it" and changed career paths? I love being a nurse and I am a d*** good one. But these programs look like they destroy bank accounts and your nursing career anyways. Since I was a travel nurse when this happened, they are forcing me to do the program in SC. I live in a completely different state so they won't let me work in my home state as a nurse while I'm in the program. And I can't switch to my home state bc it's not where my original license is from. So for the five years I'm being monitored I couldn't work as a nurse anyways. Just trying to weigh my options here. I feel so overwhelmed and sick. I've applied for a few medical sales positions and also looked into going back to school for cardiac electrophysiology. From those of you that are "vets" in the program... I'd love to know your true opinions.

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Specializes in OR.

People have thrown in the towel and walked away. The problem is that as Far as I know, in order to get any other kind of Depertment of Health license, the nursing one would have to be clear. I also think medical sales would require your license be active also.

If you walk away, whatever you go into should have to be very far removed from healthcare.

I don't see why you are being forced to do the S.C. program, if you don't live there. Have you tried contacting the S.C. BON to find out if you can move home and do whatever your home state offers. Or contact your home states program and see if they will accept you to do your "penence " for a SC license. Also see if your state and S.C. are compact states. Maybe that would help.

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I would have been one of those people who threw in the towel if I was a little younger or a little older. I'm 56. If I was a few years younger I would have started a new career. If I was a little older I would have taken early retirement. I urge people to sit down and think hard about whether all this nonsense is worth it. Don't start down this road unless you are deadly serious about playing a high-stakes game where they will either throw you out or make you stay longer for even the slightest infractions.

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Catsmeow- are you sure I couldn't go into medical sales without a nursing license? Where did you hear that from?

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I was very very close to quitting nursing also. I looked into getting jobs adjacent to the medical field, like teaching nurses how to use the electronic health record, which I've done PRN before. But that particular company wanted their instructors to be RNs. Other companies might've been an option though. But then I realized no matter what I did, I would FOREVER be explaining to people, both work colleagues/potential employers as well as personal friends, family, acquaintances, why I'd left nursing. I didn't tell anyone except my husband that I'd been fired, so my friends and family never found out. They just thought I'd changed jobs. If I'd quit nursing, I would have had to explain it for the rest of my life, and I didn't want that reminder!

I also have always thought that when I retire, hopefully early, I would still want to do some part time type of nursing work. At a summer camp, maybe, or go back somewhere part time or PRN after retiring for a few years. I did not want to close that door completely.

I completely understand you wanting to throw in the towel and move on, I felt that way too, but in the end I decided to just start off and jump through the first TPAPN hoop, then the next, and if I decided I couldn't tolerate the monitoring program, then yeah, I'd quit. But since I didn't have any other perfect career lined up already, and my head was still spinning from being fired, I wasn't really in a position to start a new career move, so I just followed the steps TPAPN told me to take, one at a time, and now I'm 6 months from being done! You can always start the monitoring now and quit later, but if you say no to the monitoring now, it will be a lot harder to get yourself to do it later on.

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