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Have a friend that is the best nurse I've ever known. Graduated top of her BSN class, went to work in med/surg at 22. She is now 25. In the last year she had a divorce, traumatic delivery, and serious IBS with chronic pain and began diverting waste 4 months ago. She went cold turkey (at home) then went into treatment for a month and after getting clean told her nurse manager and was promptly fired. She has no idea what is coming. She doesn't know what to do or whether her employer will report to the BON. All her drug test are clean, her assessments are glowing. Other than outing herself there is no other evidence. By the way, every nurse on staff (including managers) signed off on waste but didn't stay to witness. Anyone have any ideas what she is facing?
Have a friend that is the best nurse I've ever known. Graduated top of her BSN class, went to work in med/surg at 22. She is now 25. In the last year she had a divorce, traumatic delivery, and serious IBS with chronic pain and began diverting waste 4 months ago. She went cold turkey (at home) then went into treatment for a month and after getting clean told her nurse manager and was promptly fired. She has no idea what is coming. She doesn't know what to do or whether her employer will report to the BON. All her drug test are clean, her assessments are glowing. Other than outing herself there is no other evidence. By the way, every nurse on staff (including managers) signed off on waste but didn't stay to witness. Anyone have any ideas what she is facing?
It is the hospital's responsibility and they are legally required to report to the BON. They most certainly will not see the "cold turkey," as treatment or let one month of professionally treatment as the answer to the problem. If she wanted to self-report she should have gone to the BON not the nurse manager. BON helps but they do not make it easy.
If it were me, I would get a lawyer before doing anything. These are legal questions and your friend needs legal advice.Also, those of you who signed that you "witnessed" her drug wasting without having actually witnessed it might also want to talk with a lawyer. I would.
This is how I see it. Lesson here in not providing harmful information, when keeping your mouth shut will work. She did it to herself. Hope she is successful in her program, because the stress will become unbearable at this point.
Thank you both, she is coping well with the wait because she has given ALL the details to the investigator for the BON so she has nothing left to hide. But the hospital did not report, for whatever reason. She is completely willing to jump though all the hoops required by the BON to keep her license and exhibit responsible behavior. She would have been willing to do that with the hospital as well. She had saved them several million in lawsuits (flawless documentation of preexisting patient injuries noticed on intake) so she would have been more than willing to do whatever they wanted but what they wanted was to make the problem go away. She has accepted complete responsibility for her actions. The hospital and the other nurses are on their own since they did not report but the story is out. There seems to be a "don't ask, don't tell" attitude here that is conterproductive to recovery. Frankly I would have gone into treatment as she did and just sent word I would not be back to work ever so there would be no questions asked. She felt the need to come clean as her psychiatrist told her that this would keep her honest. For those concerned she has made life changing behaviors part of her routine and is happy and raising a lovely happy baby. Being intelligent and beautiful she is not concerned about finding work should her discipline be greater than probation. She is brilliant in math and has registered for grad studies as a NP in geriatrics. Since she still has her license and she had a 3.8 undergrad GPA and recieved a 1400 on the GRE when a 1000 was all that was required she is a shoe-in with scholarships and grants a given. She sees herself as a good person that made a really bad choice during a really bad time. As a final not she has great faith in God and has turned this entire matter over to him. I am not sure she would be as peaceful without the knowledge that he is now in control.
Being intelligent and beautiful she is not concerned about finding work should her discipline be greater than probation. She is brilliant in math...
Not to be catty myself (despite my screen name :chuckle) but what does being good looking have to do with anything? I guess I can understand that if she is smart she may have more job options than a less intelligent person, but IMO recovery has more to do with getting emotionally honest than with either brains or looks.
Can you clarify your point? Thanks!
Catmom :paw:
My point is. Whether we like it or not young good-looking people have more oppurtunities. They are assumed to be smarter. They are given more chances to succeed. It isn't catty to ask the question but the answer is obvious. My friend will be viewed in a more positive light because she is extremely attractive. Even if she has to wait out a suspension she will find employment when others cannot because she is more attractive. Add to that her abilities and she really does not have to be employed in nursing, she simply loves the profession. That all may irritate people but those are the realities of human kind. Fortunately, the fact that she is beautiful has not detered her from acknowledging her own character flaws and take the steps she needs to become a more center person. I hope that clears up any misunderstanding. If it will make you feel better her feet are big.:chuckle
If it will make you feel better her feet are big.:chuckle
I never expressed (or felt) the irritation you seem to be attributing to me. I merely asked for clarification of what seemed to be an irrelevant point. I read a lot about nurses in recovery and have NEVER read about someone's looks, be they good or bad, entering into it.
Thanks for the info, pollyanna.
Catmom :paw:
P.S. You also said the answer to my question is obvious---clearly it wasn't to me or I wouldn't have asked. But thanks for the answer anyway.
You guys ever heard of tongue in cheek? I really thought the whole attractiveness issue was a joke. Guess not. Tess your right it can be a hindrance because there is a sense of entitlement that happens when you are adored by everyone. In addition your self worth is derived from something very superficial. Cat, I thought you were jesting but I always say if you can't say something nice you can come over and drink from my milk bowl. My point was not that being attractive can help in anyway with recovery but that it can help one get a job that others of us that were just plain old ordinary looking drunks couldn't land. After 28 years of sobriety I find the strangest thing humerous. Perhaps its the dead brain cells sloughing off and clogging the arteries. Well, anyway I guess my friend could always do runway where heroin chic is always in style. Then when she has done enough penance to prove to the BON she is worthy to join the noble profession of nursing again she can cast off her Dolce-Garbana for next seasons lastest scrubs. I do hope you all laugh at that because it really is a joke.
I never expressed (or felt) the irritation you seem to be attributing to me. I merely asked for clarification of what seemed to be an irrelevant point. I read a lot about nurses in recovery and have NEVER read about someone's looks, be they good or bad, entering into it.Thanks for the info, pollyanna.
Catmom :paw:
P.S. You also said the answer to my question is obvious---clearly it wasn't to me or I wouldn't have asked. But thanks for the answer anyway.
I agree with you here. Every single recovering nurse that I've ever met (and I've met a lot)... looked healthy and good. None of them looked like crack addicts with missing teeth and blemishes all over their faces. I'm sure they are caught well before any of that starts happening. So to bring up the fact that someone is pretty and that will make it easier for her to get a job in recovery.. that makes no sense. Actually, it may even inhibit her recovery. She may feel like she's so beautiful that she can handle a hit ,, and then another,, and another....
Oh well that made a complete circle so I'm out. E.TX nurse please give us the data that says being beautiful makes you more likely to be a junky!!!! LOL
I'm glad my friend realizes she is predisposed to addiction due to serotonin levels rather than her perfectly symetrical face or she might do a Hanabal Lecter on herself.:lol_hitti
Just like with anything else that is going good, there is a tendency for once self to let their guard down, so to speak. In walks the opportunity for addiction to rear it's ugly head.
I have no "data that says being beautiful makes you more likely to be a junky." I was merely stating a possibility, since a big reason for your friend's success seems to be her beauty, that can also be a downfall. Just like the thousands of other opportunities that addiction waits for.
Hopefully she doesn't think that since she's beautiful, recovery will be handed to her on a silver platter. I'm not talking about your friend, but any beautiful person in recovery that is vane. If that person is disappointed because she thought something was going to be given to her because of her beauty, she will most definitely be thrown for a loop. And just like with any other major disappointment, let down, sadness, there lies her addiction, and she might turn to it, to make herself feel better.
jackstem
670 Posts
I haven't read all the other responses yet so I apologize if any of this is a rehash.
It sounds as though your friend has started to work a pretty good "program". I agree with the suggestion she get an attorney so she can be prepared for any legal outfall that may occur, keeping in mind a criminal defense attorney is for criminal charges and an administrative lawyer for any board of nursing issues. The American Association of Nurse Attorneys can give you names of attorneys in your area. Also, have your friend document every recovery related activity she is involved in so she has a record in the event the board of nursing is notified. Having a stack of forms with signatures from the chair of the 12 Step meetings she's attending, doctor visits, therapists, etc. along with negative random urine screens (her psychiatrist or her nurse manager should be able to arrange for these screens. They must follow strict chain of custody protocols.). If they see she is already doing these things it might have a positive impact on how the board deals with her should they become involved.
You guys are in my thoughts and prayers.
Jack