allnurses Guide hppygr8ful, ASN, RN, EMT-I 4 Articles; 4,778 Posts Specializes in Psych, Addictions, SOL (Student of Life). Has 21 years experience. Feb 11 Lou_mama88 said: Hi I have been a nurse for 13 years. I have never had any discipline or right ups against me. I am currently in a leadership role. I failed a random drug test for Thc. I have had a rough 6 months and used Thc a couple of times during that 6 month period. I am currently waiting on my confirmation UDS results. I am very nervous and scared and do not know why to expect. I know I will need to self report to TNPAP. My question is when I speak with them should I admit to just one time use or sporadic use for the past several months. I want to do whatever I need to do to keep my license to support my family. I understand I put myself in this situation but just need some guidance... Without revealing too much you absolutely need to consult with an attorney familiar with professional practice law. IT may or may not help you to know that if rereational Marijuana is legal in you state. Some states even forbid testing for Marijuana unless the person being tested is clearly altered. This is where an attorney. Just a Note however is that malpractice insurance will no cover you in these cases. Hppy
No Stars In My Eyes 3,951 Posts Specializes in Med nurse in med-surg., float, HH, and PDN. Has 43 years experience. Feb 11 beachbabe86 said: In Tennessee, you have a "property right" .... Yes, to your license, AND in my opinion, most especially to your own urine, blood, and hair!
Wizard 1 172 Posts Specializes in ER, ICU/CCU, Open Heart OR Recovery, Etc. Has 12 years experience. Feb 15 KalipsoRed21 said: I have soooo many questions here. First of all I will say it is complete and utter *** that anything should happen to you for testing positive for THC. Until there is a test that can tell if you are high or not when tested, the point is moot. The issue with THC is that it lingers. I have tested positive for up to 6 weeks after smoking a joint. You certainly are not high 6 weeks later. I think I would consult a lawyer. What if you vacationed in a state where cannabis is legal and ate a chocolate bar with THC? You wouldn't have done anything illegal so why would the state get to take away your license? I get why you would, unfortunately, loose your job. Even in states where it is legal the rule of thumb is if an incident occurs and you have to get tested, a positive THC level will get you fired. But they just don't do random testing anymore unless an incident occurred. And I have even had a very obese patient who was a regular smoker, but had been abstinent for a year test positive for cannabis. I expressed my doubts to the doctor about this patient being cannabis free for a year as she said, and he told me that THC attaches to fat cells, because this patient had been aggressively and successfully loosing weight the UDS would be positive until she quit loosing weight. I guess I just don't see why a positive test alone would put you in a position to loose your license. Why wouldn't someone have to accuse you of working under the influence and putting lives at risk? I concur with the suggestion to hire an attorney who specializes in licensure defense ASAP.
Quickstepper, RN 50 Posts Specializes in critical care, cardiology, med /surg. Has 27 years experience. Feb 15 If someone has had any luck fighting this, I'd be interested in hearing about any success you might have had. My situation was very similar to this, but I lived in a state where Marijuana was not legal at the time. I was never intoxicated while working and had eaten edibles while I was on vacation in California, a week before being tested. I was told by my BON at the time that if I tried to fight my charges that my case would be public, but if I agreed to do participate in the alternative/monitoring program, it would remain confidential and not be part of my public record. I choose not to contest it, and ended up having to go to treatment and am in a nightmare monitoring program for years. There are plenty of times I think I should have fought it, but the fact that the incident would be public, I didn't want to risk. I actually have a nurse manager who tested positive on a pre-employment, fought it, and won. She didn't have to do monitoring, but it's publicly available to see if you look up her license. That's pretty scathing, and is there forever. ..
GREATRN 14 Posts Has 6 years experience. Feb 15 Mine was pre employment too and I hired an attonery. And I got 1 year of monitoring and that's it but my stuff is public and I just finished my year and it's still public just says my case is cleared.
Lou_mama88 7 Posts Specializes in ICU. Has 13 years experience. Mar 16 Just wanted to give an update for anyone in the same boat as I was, after my evaluation I signed a monitoring agreement for 1 year.
Quickstepper, RN 50 Posts Specializes in critical care, cardiology, med /surg. Has 27 years experience. Mar 18 One year!?That's amazing. I got 5 in Florida.
beachbabe86 160 Posts Specializes in Oceanfront Living. Has 23 years experience. Mar 18 Because the OP mentioned TNPAP, I believe Tennessee could be the state.
RuralMOSchoolRN, ADN, RN 96 Posts Specializes in ER/School/Rural Nursing/Health Department. Has 17 years experience. Mar 21 I've been told that since it is still Federally illegal any nurse that works with patients/hospitals/clinics getting federal money (Medicaid and Medicare are the biggies) cannot partake even if it is legal in their state. Plus a lot of jobs have now made carve outs saying it isn't tolerated at their jobsite for a variety of reasons which is legal (just like alcohol is legal but you can't be drunk at work). I commiserate with the fact that mj lingers and obviously its difficult to tell WHEN you took it and whether you were impaired at work, but rules are rules.
Nurse_MSNRN 15 Posts Mar 21 Lou_mama88 said: Just wanted to give an update for anyone in the same boat as I was, after my evaluation I signed a monitoring agreement for 1 year. did you still have your active license when you did your eval?
Lou_mama88 7 Posts Specializes in ICU. Has 13 years experience. Apr 16 Yes my license are active. After my eval I wasn't decided to have an addiction problem so for now I just have a monitoring agreement for a year. I feel lucky to have gotten this chance and am thankful for it
Quickstepper, RN 50 Posts Specializes in critical care, cardiology, med /surg. Has 27 years experience. Apr 16 What state are you in? I can't believe you only got a year! I got 5 for the same issue in Florida.
