Having been in Detox

Tweety, BSN, RN · Dec 18, 2008

That's a tough one. Everyone says honesty is the best policy when asked on applications "have you every been treated or had a problem with drugs and alcohol". The consequences of lying can be severe.

However, my recovery remains anonymous and that's how I choose to keep it.

Magsulfate, BSN, RN · Dec 19, 2008

That's a tough one. Everyone says honesty is the best policy when asked on applications "have you every been treated or had a problem with drugs and alcohol". The consequences of lying can be severe.
However, my recovery remains anonymous and that's how I choose to keep it.

I agree here. It does ask you on the application if you've ever been in treatment or been addicted,, etc... If you didn't break any laws, I don't know how they would find out. SO, you really have to figure out if you want to be honest, or if you want to take the chance and lie on the application. I really wouldn't take that chance, when you can write to the board and they can advise you on what you'll need to do. then you won't be living a lie.

Say you did go ahead and lie on the app... and god forbid, one day you got caught up in increasing your meds again and then, god forbid, you were in the med room one day after running out of your pills,, and you see

((EDIT: I'm not sure what happened to the rest of my post here, there's a few paragraphs missing, very important paragraphs where I compared the recovery of a nurse to that of a regular person,, it has to be different because the nurse goes back to work and faces the enticement of all the narcotics around her))

OC85 · Dec 19, 2008

Since the detox program is HIPPAA, could they find out... .

I don't see how. HIPPAA privacy rules "restricts employers from using [private health information] in employment decisions"*, so I don't see how your school can get a hold of this information. Personally, I'd keep that anonymous as your participation in the program, in my understanding, is part of your private medical history. It seems kind of questionable, to me, that getting help should be held against you. I mean, I loooooved the vicodin they gave me when I had my wisdom teeth pulled last week [i like to think of it as my silver lining in a particularly painful raincloud.] Do you think I should have to disclose that? Would anyone who had a problem, but never received formal treatment, disclose the fact that they used to be addicted? Just seems like it would punish people who made a good decision, and I don't see how that can be allowed.

[For the record, even though I enjoy narcotic pain meds, I've never used them without a legitimate prescription, and I've never taken more than is accepted as medicinal use [i don't really feel like poisoning my liver with that much acetaminophen.].

Nice little summary:

*http://www.ncdot.org/services/personnel/benefits/pdf_ppt/hippa.pdf

Magsulfate, BSN, RN · Dec 19, 2008

[For the record, even though I enjoy narcotic pain meds, I've never used them without a legitimate prescription, and I've never taken more than is accepted as medicinal use [i don't really feel like poisoning my liver with that much acetaminophen.].
Nice little summary:
*http://www.ncdot.org/services/personnel/benefits/pdf_ppt/hippa.pdf

Then you wouldn't know what it's like to increase the dose and become tolerant and addicted. Would you know what it feels like to stand in front of a medication machine (pixis, med despense, etc) without proper counseling and recovery, wishing you had just two little vicodin?

Not at all disagreeing with your point of view, it is more than likely that she will be successful in her nursing career. But, considering that she's still having pain, and there is a chance , a small one, that she hasn't been thoroughly recovered enough to stand in front of those machines or a narcotics cabinet. Maybe 6 months of narcotics restrictions would help someone adjust to it.

But that is not for us to say. That's why the question is posed on the application. There is a reason, other than to pry into our private lives, why they put those questions on the app. The reason is, to make sure the nurse applicant has evidence of a good recovery, so there will be less of a chance she will slip once on the job. Patient safety and in this case, looking out for the nurses best interest.

SuesquatchRN, BSN, RN · Dec 19, 2008

I don't tell. Never been inpatient, but tain't nobody's business.

OC85 · Dec 19, 2008

I went through a detox program, and [...] I am clean, and have NO intent to use, it was more of an upping of my dose to get pain relief, although I took more than what Dr. prescribed I never illegally purchased narcotics.

Then you wouldn't know what it's like to increase the dose and become tolerant and addicted. Would you know what it feels like to stand in front of a medication machine (pixis, med despense, etc) without proper counseling and recovery, wishing you had just two little vicodin?

[emphasis mine]

I would be singing a different tune if the OP had said she never received treatment, or that she still struggles. I understand what you're saying, and think there's a lot of validity to it, but I was responding based on what the OP actually wrote. I'm not going to go responding to scenarios where she did not successfully receive treatment and is tempted to relapse. Because she specifically stated that she never illegally acquired vicodin, I don't see the possibility of her stealing meds from work to be significant. Its actually very easy to buy these meds, if you really want them, and in my opinion, you'd by them anonymously on the street before you steal them from your place of work. She asked a question, and based on her description of the situation, I gave my answer.

Magsulfate, BSN, RN · Dec 19, 2008

[emphasis mine]
i would be singing a different tune if the op had said she never received treatment, or that she still struggles. i understand what you're saying, and think there's a lot of validity to it, but i was responding based on what the op actually wrote. i'm not going to go responding to scenarios where she did not successfully receive treatment and is tempted to relapse. because she specifically stated that she never illegally acquired vicodin, i don't see the possibility of her stealing meds from work to be significant. its actually very easy to buy these meds, if you really want them, and in my opinion, you'd by them anonymously on the street before you steal them from your place of work. she asked a question, and based on her description of the situation, i gave my answer.

as i stated in an earlier post, that i had to edit because for some reason a few paragraphs got left out.... i am not judging her sobriety. i am only saying that there are reasons why the board puts questions on the application such as these.

if you have never been addicted to a prescription narcotic, you wouldn't know how it makes you feel when you're standing in front of a medication cart after you have ran out of your meds. (and you will run out if you're addicted and tolerant, taking more than prescribed) i also know that she said in her post that she has received treatment on her own and no longer has a problem. however, if i remember correctly, she said she is in pain (maybe in not this post, but in a previous post) i don't doubt at all that she is doing fine now because she said she is. i'm not saying that she'll get a job and start diverting. i'm just saying that a recovering nurse faces different hurdles than an ordinary person. an ordinary person doesn't have a responsibility to give patients narcotics. an ordinary person can easily go to a streetcorner doctor and get vicodin, but, a nurse,, can up the ante and get better narcotics, illegally of course, and in the most part to the expense of a patient.

these reasons, and more i'm sure, are why the boards ask you those questions on the application. not to pry into your personal life, but for patient safety.

if faced with the same decision, i would probably check the box that said 'no' to history of drug abuse or inpatient treatment. but she is looking for advice. if we just type what a person wants to hear, then why is this board here? i was not being mean or cruel, just stating the fact that recovering nurses need a different treatment, one structured to the enticements that they will have once returning to work. there is no way that a person can know how he/she will react when in a new situation, especially a recovering nurse. one is always recovering, and for the rest of her life she will be recovering from her addiction.

OC85 · Dec 19, 2008

however, if I remember correctly, she said she is [still] in pain (maybe in not this post, but in a previous post).

Well, I can't be expected to hunt down every post the woman has ever made, but I'll admit that this changes things, somewhat. I still hold my opinion [i don't believe I was "telling her what she wanted to hear"], but I'm willing to accept yours as equally valid. I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree, and ultimately, the OP will just have to do whatever she thinks is right.

you wouldn't know how it makes you feel when you're standing in front of a medication cart after you have ran out of your meds. (and you will run out if you're addicted and tolerant, taking more than prescribed)

Not to pick a fight, but this is completely irrelevant, as the OP specifically stated that she is no longer taking narcotic pain medication. ["I am clean, and have NO intent to use..."]

Magsulfate, BSN, RN · Dec 19, 2008

Well, I can't be expected to hunt down every post the woman has ever made, but I'll admit that this changes things, somewhat. I still hold my opinion [i don't believe I was "telling her what she wanted to hear"], but I'm willing to accept yours as equally valid. I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree, and ultimately, the OP will just have to do whatever she thinks is right.
Not to pick a fight, but this is completely irrelevant, as the OP specifically stated that she is no longer taking narcotic pain medication. ["I am clean, and have NO intent to use..."]

I'm not picking a fight, I was giving a hypothetical situation. As I have been there before. Being "cured" from prescription opiod pain killers and standing in front of a medication despenser, IT WAS NOT A NICE SITUATION. So, in my opinion, it is not completely irrelevant, it is certainly a very possible situation if one is not recovered well enough to face it. I was bringing my opinion to the table as the OP is here to get different opinions. If she wanted all the niceties, she would have gone to her best friend, or mother, or a place with rainbows and unicorns :clown: .

Just understand that I am not implying that she will divert. As I said before, it is the reason the boards ask the question on the application. Because this is a possible outcome.

OC85 · Dec 19, 2008

I'm not picking a fight, I was giving a hypothetical situation.

Oh, you misunderstand me. I was not implying that you were. Notice I used it as a preface to my statement, meaning it was not my intention to pick a fight with what I'm saying. I did state that I accept your position as valid, I just thought it was important to point out what I believed to be an important distinction between your scenario and the OP. I'm not even saying that you're wrong, overall. Rather, lets just agree to have a difference of opinion on this one.

Magsulfate, BSN, RN · Dec 19, 2008

Oh, you misunderstand me. I was not implying that you were. Notice I used it as a preface to my statement, meaning it was not my intention to pick a fight with what I'm saying. I did state that I accept your position as valid, I just thought it was important to point out what I believed to be an important distinction between your scenario and the OP. I'm not even saying that you're wrong, overall. Rather, lets just agree to have a difference of opinion on this one.

Okay, that is what this forum is for. The OP is getting both sides. To check the box, or not to check the box. Overall, it is ultimately a personal decision that she will have to make as the board will probably never find out either way. But, if they did find out that she falsified her application that would be an entirely new problem for her. I have read the minutes to board meetings where the nurse had been charged YEARS later of lying on her application, it wasn't pretty. I just want the OP to understand this also. After years of practicing nursing,, a nurse CAN get her license taken away from her for falsifying the application.