Failed pre-employment drug screen

Nurses General Nursing

Published

I am so freaked out. I was hired, conditionally, for a job I really want. Today I found out that I failed the drug screen because it showed Darvocet. I have prescriptions for Percocet because I recently broke a bone in my foot. Over the weekend prior to the drug test, a family member gave me a couple of their pain killers until I got mine filled. I didn't put it all together until today, but apparently I took the Darvocet without thinking it would cause a problem. I am not sure yet what will happen, but I fear I will lose the job. Even worse, I am afraid of being reported to my nursing board. Any suggestions? I am feeling like a royal loser. I have never had a problem with any other drug screen in prior jobs or nursing school.

Specializes in Cardiac, PCU, Surg/Onc, LTC, Peds.

If I were to do something this foolish I certainly wouldn't post it on a public internet forum. Kudos to the OP for being that *brave*.

I guess everyone has different morals. I wouldn't share with my DH (nor any family/friend) any type of Rx. Call me a prude but I'm nowhere educated enough to have prescribing privileges and it would just kill me if something happened d/t my negligence.

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https://allnurses.com/general-nursing-discussion/failed-pre-employment-651069-page4.html#post5976069

She posted that the job offer was rescinded. I know, it was easy to miss with the flurry of opinions! :D

:up: Thanks for the update :) Appreciate it :nurse:

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I had a neck injury of some sort.... had gotten a rx. for hydrocodone and cyclobenzeprine.... VERY limited quantities (I worked alcohol and drug rehab, and some of the docs in the small town just couldn't believe that SOME of the staff weren't recovering addicts- such as myself...I hate taking meds). And, it (neck) was a bit better- didn't think much of it- then one weekend at work, it got BAD.... a co-worker had some hydrocodone at home....offered to get me 2 pills to get me through the night (think they were 5/500s back then). I accepted. It kept me from having to call in- and she knew I'd taken it before- so no issues with side effects/allergies. (this was at 7pm- no doc on call would authorize- and an ED trip seemed excessive since I'd already seen my PCP about it.

This employer did random drug screens. I would have barely made it with an empty prescription bottle with the same med on it- it would have made me nuts IF they'd done the screens when I had the stuff in my system. And at the same time, it saved me a call in. Risk - benefit weighed in favor of 'benefit'.....

Everybody needs to make the decision of risk-benefit....and each person is individual w/their beliefs and thoughts on that. I would NOT have taken anything besides what I'd been prescribed.

Was it "wrong" - yeah. Was it illegal- yep- though I did have the recent rx bottle- not some out of the blue med. Would I do it again if in the same situation (not likely as I'm no longer able to work)- it would depend on the situation and medication - NEVER something that I hadn't had prescribed. A dose to get me through to the next opportunity to call the doc and get an rx called in? Maybe. It would also depend on how well I knew the person (they would HAVE to be someone in the medical field- RN, LVN/LPN).

That said- I refuse to give meds to my family members- no matter what. I'll haul them to the ED- but that's because the only person who would possibly be in that situation is very sensitive to meds- NOT gonna get into a mess with that.

OP- lesson learned. There are usually 24 hour pharmacies in most towns- and it's worth getting them filled on the way home from the ED. :) I hope you'll come back and be part of the forums....it gets opinionated - but nurses assess, evaluate, etc- and each person has their own "limits" re: their personal medical care (nurses are usually horrible patients- those who disagree may not have had the 'opportunity" to find out what kind of patient they are :D). We want to "fix".....not be the person who needs "fixing" (no drug reference intended :uhoh3:) ..... another job will come along after your foot heals.

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They actually spent the money to get the detail of darvocet vs just opiates? And I always thought of darvocets as a waste anyway, too weak and too much tylenol, liver failure waiting to happen!

A lot of people looked at Darvocet as a throw away drug...but it was helpful for moderate pain. The big problem I saw in drug rehab was the narrow margin between the therapeutic dose and toxic dose of propoxyphene...it was scary if someone came in and had taken a few extra en route, as a last hooorah.... had a few that had to be shipped to the ED d/t respiratory depression- and others that needed a lot of monitoring and EKGs.... one passed out before getting in the door- at the table near the entrance; had to monitor her before she signed any paperwork- EMS got her out of there.

Considering the Vicodin/Norco folks were taking 60-70/day, the 14-16 Darvocet was kindergarten....until they hit the toxic dose- which could happen with one extra pill. And that wasn't the acetaminophen :)

I took it for years- and the dose I was on was well below the 4gm limit back then...on a bad day, I might have hit 2 gms (4 pills). But it was an effective drug for many people (a friend of mine also found it very beneficial)....and when a person knows that they're facing a lifetime of pain- they start with the low ones, so they don't "wear out" the stronger ones too early.... the loss of Darvocet was a bummer....docs were more willing to prescribe it because it was weak...and when taken as directed, it wasn't a problem. :)

Funny how it took them a bazillion years to figure out it was a dud for hearts.... :confused:

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Guess I'm going to nursing hell for those 8 lortab 5s that are sitting in the back of my closet from my husband's knee surgery, waiting for a rainy day (or a twisted ankle). And because I'm 30#s overweight. And because I got drunk with some friends last Saturday, and plan on doing the same this coming Saturday.

Because if my professional obligation is to live and breath a moral lifestyle....well, crap.

For the OP, meh, that was an amateur mistake. It totally was stupid, as stupid as smoking pot when you know you'll be looking for a job. Most people on here, even the ones who are so squeaky clean you could eat off of them, have made stupid errors in judgement. Unfortunately yours lost you a job, and possibly the ability to ever apply for a job in that organization ever again. I'm sorry your foot was paining you, and I'm sorry you lost yourself a job, but that was a pretty incredible error in judgement. You do something that dumb, you post it on an internet forum where everyone forgets how dumb they themselves can be, you're going to get a lot of flack.

That's not nurses eating their young. It's people giving you a well deserved tongue lashing for being so stupid. Don't worry, you stick around long enough, you'll get to do it to someone, too, and they'll deserve it just as much as you did. I've been on the receiving end of a few of those myself, and at the time it made me angry. Then I realized: 1) it's the internet, you're a fool to get angry about anything posted on the internet 2) I probably deserved it, and these faceless people were telling me something that my peers wouldn't tell me to my face, but were probably thinking in their heads or talking about behind my back 3) If I can't take the heat, stop posting about my own stupidity on the internet.

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Specializes in ER, PACU, Med-Surg, Hospice, LTC.
You can't get Percocet set up on auto fill or have refills on it. Refills can't even be called in. You have to pick uo a paper script for it each month if you are on a monthly prescriptoon. At least that is how it is here.

That is the case for all Schedule II drugs. (I am in CA). Scheudle III, like Vidocin can often get one a fax/phone refill. Schedule IV can be called in.

I think is is the most ridiculous law ever for Schedule II drugs. If you have a great relationship with your MD, your condition is well documented (and chances it is a chronic condition) and it is a med you have been prescribed for many months or years, I feel it is just highway robbery and a BIG inconvenience to make that patient go to the MD every 28-30 days. Their entire life is now revolving around getting their medication, not running out, getting extra if they are going out of town, Seriously, why can't they have even 1 refill? I don't get it. I watch these poor people that can barely walk across their own living room have to get packed-up and shipped over the the clinic for 30 pills. Unreal.

People get tolerance, dependence and addiction confused. Withdrawals can be just as severe and life-threatening because of a medication tolerance and dependence-as a full-blown drug addiction. A person dependent on their drug may act like an addict-they need their medication! This is also true for those in the Hospital that are being under medicated. Some Nurses call them clock-watchers, I say, maybe they aren't being prescribed the correct drug with the accurate dose?

I don't know. I mean you took a Lortab. You lost your job over a pretty much, useless drug. That is how Nursing prioritizes things. Live and learn I guess.

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Specializes in Clinical Research, Outpt Women's Health.

What a bunch of purists!

Except Bluegrass.......:yeah::yeah::yeah::yeah::yeah::yeah::yeah:

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People can get up to a 90 day supply at a time depending on what state they live in for schedule 2 drugs. A few select states don't allow 90 day supplies. It is a federal law that does not allow the C2 drugs to be phoned/faxed in and no refills but the doctor's staff can certainly mail an rx to the pharmacy, which many do. Many physicians/APRNs give the prescriptions post dated to the patient so they do not have to go back if they are a chronic user. New York is one of your more strict states not allowing any controls to be phoned or faxed into the pharmacy with exception of Lyrica, and not allowing refills on certain drugs other then C2. I would be all for loosening up on C2 drugs if it were not for the rampant drug trafficking of these drugs that can be sold for $1=1mg, a 90 day supply of oxycontin 80mg can get the patient several thousand dollars if they decide to sell. OP took darvocet rather than lortab. Lortab is hydrocodone/APAP and I know many patients that benefit from Lortab. Don't know many people that would benefit from darvocet though.

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Specializes in Med-Surg, NICU.

People need to take a quick look at themselves and realize that we are all human and that, if in excrutiating pain, would have probably have done the same thing. In fact, I would be a little concern if you DIDN'T and just let yourself writhe in pain. Come on now. She had a human reaction. No need to talk down at her.

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Specializes in EMS, ED, Trauma, CEN, CPEN, TCRN.

While I am in no position to criticize the OP, I would never take someone else's medicine. Okay, maybe during the zombie apocalypse, if I needed to. Otherwise? Never. I'm in the Army, and it could be a career-ender. But even before, when I could have taken some of my husband's leftover post-surgery Vicodin/Lortab and/or Percocet, I chose not to. Did I have pain? Oh yes. I slammed my thumb in a car door and broke it. But I knew it wouldn't benefit me in the long run to borrow some narcs.

Another part of being human is realizing that we all have choices, and we're responsible for those, good or bad or otherwise. I'm quite certain the OP would have made a different choice in hindsight -- who wants a job offer rescinded? I'm sure she learned her lesson, and I thank her for sharing it as it might save another forum member down the road who is presented with a similar situation, who might think back to this thread.

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People need to take a quick look at themselves and realize that we are all human and that, if in excrutiating pain, would have probably have done the same thing. In fact, I would be a little concern if you DIDN'T and just let yourself writhe in pain. Come on now. She had a human reaction. No need to talk down at her.

If you were in pain would you shoot up with some heroin? A heroin addict would look at you and say I would be a little concerned if you DIDN'T use this heroin for your excruciating pain. Where do you draw the line? My line is drawn at not taking some other person prescription drugs.

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If you were in pain would you shoot up with some heroin? A heroin addict would look at you and say I would be a little concerned if you DIDN'T use this heroin for your excruciating pain. Where do you draw the line? My line is drawn at not taking some other person prescription drugs.

we're not talking about street drugs, but prescriptions that one may have.

checker, can you honestly tell me that if you had a true "10" pain...

i mean agonizing, screaming pain and your mom offered you 1-2 of her percocets, you wouldn't take it?

leslie

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