I recently received an offer for a position at a major hospital in Houston and had to go through all the pre-hire stuff, including a drug screen. I am currently prescribed a prescription that shows up on all the drug screens I've ever done. I always have had anxiety that this will cause me to lose a position in some way.
I'm panicking after what happened today.
-Last Wednesday (6/22) I went into the hospital's employee health clinic for my drug screen. I expressed my concern that I had prescriptions that will affect the results. I was reassured if I had it written down in my history everything would be fine.
-This morning (6/27) I missed a call from the hospital's HR department and then 2 hours later missed call from a 1-800 number. Since the 1-800 number left me a message instructing me to call, I gave them a call first. It was the MRO asking for verification of my prescription. They informed me I had 72 hours to submit proof. I submitted the proof immediately.
-In the next couple of hours I called my recruiter (assuming it had nothing to do with the drug screen) and asked if she had been trying to contact me this morning. She said yes that she was calling to inform me that I had positive drug screen (Note- before the MRO attempted to contacted me). I explained that the results were due to a prescription drug. She seemed confused: "What do you mean a prescription?" She seemed extremely judgemental, and disgusted with me. I didn't disclose the name of the prescription because as I was told by the hospital: My health information only goes to the employee health clinic. I expressed this situation panicked me. She replied "It panics us too." It was extremely hurtful. She obviously thought I was lying. She told me to contact her if I got that sorted out.
-I called the hospital's employee health clinic immediately after my call with my recruiter to inquire about the drug screen results. They were reluctant to help me, because apparently whoever normally deals with this "leaves at 3:30." I insisted; I told her HR had contacted me and that I was under the impression that this information would not be released to HR and was worried about losing my position. She then said "Oh we did just receive verification. I'll update your profile to show a true negative and let HR know. Someone from HR will be in touch with you."
-I waited 15 minutes then tried to call my recruiter back twice with no answer. I sent her an email to confirm she received the information and to confirm my start date. No answer yet. I'm afraid she has contacted my unit and nurse manager about the situation.
I did not think that HR was suppose to be aware of a positive result of a drug test until it was verified? Especially since this hospital has its own employee health clinic, and HR does not deal directly with drug screens. Agh. Could they take away my position? (I was going to have my offer rescinded before the MRO even had contacted me!) How is this normally supposed to work? Can anyone shed light on this situation? I am really upset that this happened, and hope it gets sorted out.
[Not happy at the idea of my boss hearing I had a positive drug screen, then hearing "Oh never mind, she is taking the drugs legally."]
Note again:This is a MAJOR hospital system that excels in employee satisfaction, one that I would not pin having this kind of confusion with.
There is no rx that should bar a person from a "safety sensitive" job. Just because someone has an rx for a potentially impairing med like benzos, stimulants or narcotics, that does not mean they are coming to work impaired, and it is discriminatory to assume as much. People who are on long term methadone maintanence are certainly not getting high from their rx, a nurse with ADD may be impaired WITHOUT her meds, and someone like me who has used benzos off and on for acute anxiety issues should not be assumed to be popping xanax before work.
Not saying this applies to the OP however this misconception has been stated more than once in this thread. As a matter of fact there are studies showing that people on long term narcotics like methadone, although they may feel and appear normal, actually do perform less well on tests of reaction speed such as in driving situations.
In addition it is patently false to state that there are no meds that disqualify someone from certain positions...i picked the above to quote because it mentions methadone. In most every if not all US states, methadone is currently considered "impairing" by the state boards of nursing and medicine (and i believe for others like pilots also but i know much less about that). If the licensing bodies learn that you are taking methadone you will, at best, be told that to continue practice you must stop taking it and enter a monitoring program. Now, that said, i don't know of any state in which methadone prescriptions are reported to these authorities nor do i know of any state that tests license applicants for drugs, so if the state finds out about your prescription chances are you had a criminal charge or were accused/ found to be working impaired or diverting or came to their attention for some other similar reason.
I agree that what happened to OP is wrong and i do believe that many employers will hire people who screen positive for methadone etc as long as there is a valid prescription, but if someone were to be denied a job for a positive methadone they likely would have no recourse since if the licensing body knew about it they would no longer be practicing.
Wouldn't that make things easier. But what am I supposed to do about my (hypothetical, lets say) epilepsy medication? Just skip it for a few days before the drug test and hope nothing bad happens? After all, those meds DO say don't use heavy machinery *until you know how it affects you*.
I mean, whats gets in the way of my work more, me taking my meds, or collapsing from a seizure in the middle of the ICU? Its SO frustrating to be told that I could potentially have to give up my career for something like that - where I did nothing wrong and nobody was hurt or in danger. Why did I even bother going to school then? But what, they can just decide that I'm incapable, out of ignorance. HR and employee health should not be making that decision unilaterally. If my primary care doctor says that I am capable of doing the job safely, that should matter.
Just took a drug test (again) today. Am all fired up now.
I need enlightenment here. Which epilepsy meds show up on a drug screen?
I need enlightenment here. Which epilepsy meds show up on a drug screen?
Depends on the drug test, I suppose. But someone earlier in this thread was saying that some drug tests are more than the standard 6 or 10 panel, and include certain prescription drugs. Even those basic ones have benzos, which can sometimes be used in seizure patients in certain circumstances.
And many epilepsy drugs certainly fall under the category of having a label that says "do not operate heavy machinery", which was mentioned several times in this thread as being the benchmark for drugs that may not be allowed for a "safety sensitive" job.
Depends on the drug test, I suppose. But someone earlier in this thread was saying that some drug tests are more than the standard 6 or 10 panel, and include certain prescription drugs. Even those basic ones have benzos, which can sometimes be used in seizure patients in certain circumstances.
And many epilepsy drugs certainly fall under the category of having a label that says "do not operate heavy machinery", which was mentioned several times in this thread as being the benchmark for drugs that may not be allowed for a "safety sensitive" job.[/quoteI
I actually review drug screens (for forensic purposes and used ti work in peer assistance for addicted nurses and never saw a seizure drug in a screen. No employer would ever want it known that they permitted nurses to work while on a drug included in a screen; nor the airlines, nor Amtrak. If you "need to take" benzos, nursing jobs in acute care aren't going to happen anywhere with pre-employment screening.
Specializes in Complex pedi to LTC/SA & now a manager.
Depends on the drug test, I suppose. But someone earlier in this thread was saying that some drug tests are more than the standard 6 or 10 panel, and include certain prescription drugs. Even those basic ones have benzos, which can sometimes be used in seizure patients in certain circumstances.
And many epilepsy drugs certainly fall under the category of having a label that says "do not operate heavy machinery", which was mentioned several times in this thread as being the benchmark for drugs that may not be allowed for a "safety sensitive" job.[/quoteI
I actually review drug screens (for forensic purposes and used ti work in peer assistance for addicted nurses and never saw a seizure drug in a screen. No employer would ever want it known that they permitted nurses to work while on a drug included in a screen; nor the airlines, nor Amtrak. If you "need to take" benzos, nursing jobs in acute care aren't going to happen anywhere with pre-employment screening.
i know not commonly prescribed for working adults but if clonazepam or diazepam were prescribed would not they show up in a standard panel?
jdub6
233 Posts
Not saying this applies to the OP however this misconception has been stated more than once in this thread. As a matter of fact there are studies showing that people on long term narcotics like methadone, although they may feel and appear normal, actually do perform less well on tests of reaction speed such as in driving situations.
In addition it is patently false to state that there are no meds that disqualify someone from certain positions...i picked the above to quote because it mentions methadone. In most every if not all US states, methadone is currently considered "impairing" by the state boards of nursing and medicine (and i believe for others like pilots also but i know much less about that). If the licensing bodies learn that you are taking methadone you will, at best, be told that to continue practice you must stop taking it and enter a monitoring program. Now, that said, i don't know of any state in which methadone prescriptions are reported to these authorities nor do i know of any state that tests license applicants for drugs, so if the state finds out about your prescription chances are you had a criminal charge or were accused/ found to be working impaired or diverting or came to their attention for some other similar reason.
I agree that what happened to OP is wrong and i do believe that many employers will hire people who screen positive for methadone etc as long as there is a valid prescription, but if someone were to be denied a job for a positive methadone they likely would have no recourse since if the licensing body knew about it they would no longer be practicing.