Help my wife got caught diverting

[got_nurseing73]

I NEED advice. My wife an RN of 10 years was confronted and admitted to drug diverting of fentanyl . It has been going on a few months due to chronic pain. No excuse but shes been seeking help from pain management for a long time with no relief . A car accident set off the latest bout that pushed her to the stupid decision to divert(steal) and self medicate.... She admitted use and asked for help they gave her a drug screen and suspended her first she did fail a drug test and was fired. She did enroll the day she was suspended into out patient and completed the 30 day plan and is going to 2 or 3 aa/da meeting a week. She has passed every drug test since the day she was suspended. That was 6 weeks ago. She just got the letter from Board giving 30 days to respond in writing. She has talked to a few lawyers and is to retain one next week. My question is..will she go to jail? can she work while under investigation? How mych will lawyers fees and fines be? She just got a new rn job will the y fire her? Anyone tell me what to expect? I am trying to be supportive to rehab and her working. I feel stupid for not seeing the signs. I am worried because we do have kids and bills to deal with . I just don't know what to do ...Help in Missouri

[hppygr8ful, ASN, RN, EMT-I]

The word I have heard is home health perhaps if she stays as an rn . Any input?

In my experience the best jobs that are easier to break into when a RN is in monitoring are those where there is little to no access to substances of abuse. I worked Psych and it became the love of my life - have now been doing it for over 15 years and have no regrets. The money is good and I am a highly respected member of the team even among those who know my history.

With regard to your wife's relapse I have to say that unless she is working a program of recovery they will likely reoccur. You may have to make some decisions and set some clear boundaries. Quit being so dared disappointed the rule is no opiates ever and reserve the right to test her. When she gets into probation w=she will be randomly tested 6 to 8 times months - If they don't demand an in-patient program from the beginning they will certainly mandate one.

As for finding a new Job/career there is a saying among those of us in recovery is that "No matter where you go there you are." You can't run away from this and sooner or later you have to turn and face the monster that's chasing you. More often than not when you do turn you'll be looking in a mirror at some altered version of yourself.

Don't know what else to tell you

hppy

[Recovering_RN]

The word I have heard is home health perhaps if she stays as an rn . Any input?

Home health was my first job when I started monitoring. It was a LOT of driving, 500 miles a week! And a LOT of paperwork. But it was a job and I was grateful for it. The problem is that a lot of monitoring programs don't allow home health, as there's no one there to supervise you. In Texas, in TPAPN, home health is allowed, but I couldn't have any patients that were taking controlled substances (that was easy, surprisingly, few patients took them) and I also had to check in at the beginning of the day with my manager, before I saw any patients, and check out at the end of the day. One of those had to be in person, the other could be by phone. Didn't matter which one was in person, and it could change from day to day depending on where my patients were for that day.