I Need Help

allnurses Guide · Dec 30, 2020

Your medical history is private and your own. Go to rehab, Don't tell them you are a nurse, get better and go back to work. The board may have to know at some point but for now I applaud your courage in seeking help.

Peace and Namaste

Hppy

K. Everly, BSN, RN · Dec 31, 2020

I feel for you. There are a lot of ways to get help after rehab (like SMART Recovery) but if you think you need detox, I would do that - your kiddos need a happy sober mom and you deserve to get better. I agree with hppy’s advice.

If it were me (I’m in a pickle but completely different situation), I might even contact an attorney from TAANA.org who does licensure defense and ask them how you can get help anonymously without ever having to report it (they may have some ideas we don’t even know about).

MsLuckyWon · Dec 31, 2020

In Ohio, my medical records containing the details of my (voluntary) alcohol detox were somehow relayed to the board. When I renewed my license, I answered no to the, "have you ever received help for substance abuse..", question, cause I assumed everything was confidential. Well, the board notified me as accusing me of deceiving them and pretty much made me feel like a peice of ***. Now im obligated to IOP, aftercare, probation for 5 years, the whole ordeal. I want to find out how this happened but I don't know where to start. So be careful. And I feel what you're going through. Unfortunately, we chose a profession that has little compassion for those who suffer with addiction.

TheMoonisMyLantern, ADN, LPN, RN · Dec 31, 2020

Do not disclose your profession to whatever rehab you go to. In my state every psych facility screens each patient on whether they are a health care provider or not. If you are they automatically notify your governing board of your admission to rehab or psychiatric unit. This practice somehow is legal and I'm sure many nurses and other licensed professionals put off getting help due to being punished for doing so.

I've never had to be in a monitoring program thank the gods. But they are nothing but predatory and do nothing to promote recovery from substances or mental illness.

allnurses Guide · Dec 31, 2020

3 hours ago, TheMoonisMyLantern said:

This practice somehow is legal and I'm sure many nurses and other licensed professionals put off getting help due to being punished for doing so.

There is a proviso in the HIPAA law to the effect that if a provider has an honestly held belief that a diagnosis may put the public at risk then they can report legally.

Hppy

K. Everly, BSN, RN · Dec 31, 2020

4 hours ago, hppygr8ful said:

There is a proviso in the HIPAA law to the effect that if a provider has an honestly held belief that a diagnosis may put the public at risk then they can report legally.

Hppy

Thanks for sharing that.

I guess "honestly held belief" is so subjective that nobody could easily fight it.

It's sad they lied to you about it being confidential though, OP. The stand up thing to have done would have been to sit down with you and tell you they felt obligated to report so you could get treatment and get ahead of the situation.

Guest856929 · Jan 1, 2021

10 hours ago, TheMoonisMyLantern said:

Do not disclose your profession to whatever rehab you go to. In my state every psych facility screens each patient on whether they are a health care provider or not. If you are they automatically notify your governing board of your admission to rehab or psychiatric unit. This practice somehow is legal and I'm sure many nurses and other licensed professionals put off getting help due to being punished for doing so.

I've never had to be in a monitoring program thank the gods. But they are nothing but predatory and do nothing to promote recovery from substances or mental illness.

How do they screen that? Do they search if you are a nurse or just ask? That is inappropriate on so many levels from my POV.

TheMoonisMyLantern, ADN, LPN, RN · Jan 1, 2021

Just now, cynical-RN said:

How do they screen that? Do they search if you are a nurse or just ask? That is inappropriate on so many levels from my POV.

They ask the question in the admission assessment. It is incredibly inappropriate in my opinion, but sadly it's a legal practice in my state.

Guest856929 · Jan 1, 2021

On 12/29/2020 at 11:16 PM, BirdieMay04 said:

Get ready...this may be a long post. I need and want help for alcohol addiction. I had bariatric surgery 5 years ago and have basically traded in one addiction for another. Things have progressively gotten worse over the past year. I am a school nurse and we were home for several months due to Covid and in the meantime, I lost my father with whom I was very close. I've been a nurse for 14 years and a school nurse for 2. I do not think I can stop drinking on my own. At the very least, I need medical detox...I experience withdrawal all day during my work hours. So much so, that I start my morning (before work) with a drink to hold off the shakes. SO the big question is...if I want to go to rehab, do I have to disclose it?? I could totally do it over Summer break, in another city. I've read horror stories about TPAPN and I don't want to lose my job. This is my dream job. I have 3 children and keeping their schedule is so amazing, as well as a decent salary with a great pension. I've never been arrested or accused of anything and as far as I know, nobody knows that I have this problem. I am fully capable of doing my job and I think it's such BS that one cannot seek out help voluntarily without being completely chastised by the board. Is voluntary rehab doable without disclosure or am I kidding myself?

1. GET HELP PRONTO

2. This might be unpopular, but self-reporting is opening a can of worms not worth your time and resources, unless you feel that it will help with your addiction and recovery.

Best of luck

Guest856929 · Jan 1, 2021

2 minutes ago, TheMoonisMyLantern said:

They ask the question in the admission assessment. It is incredibly inappropriate in my opinion, but sadly it's a legal practice in my state.

Wow! How does this benefit anyone other than creating more problems, especially if it is a voluntary admission? SMH

allnurses Guide · Jan 1, 2021

11 hours ago, cynical-RN said:

Wow! How does this benefit anyone other than creating more problems, especially if it is a voluntary admission? SMH

It doesn't benefit anyone except for those in the so-called recovery industry who sure make a lot of money off of other people's misery. I feel that I am one of the few people who actually received benefit from being in a monitoring program. When I self reported in 2003 I was broken in every way that counted. I was the victim of physical (Not sexual) abuse as a child and spent most of my childhood and early teens in a sort of Stolkholm syndrome, dependent on my abusers and trusting no one when it came to folks I should trust, I neary drank myself to death and when that didn't work I tried to kill myself by more conventional means and couldn't even do that right. I self reported used the structure and oversight of the program to get well and never looked back. Back then the whole 5 year program cost about 60K. Today I have a good life with people who care about me and who I care about in return. While it was deffinately a road less traveled it took me to where I am now. I managed to keep my liscense intact the whole time due to the fact that I was a garden variety drunk. I never worked under the influence and never diverted or lied about what my life had become. The programs were less scandalous/profit motivated then than they are now.

What catches people up is the idea that the person in recovery needs to conduct all their affairs with scrupulous honesty. So when we renew that liscence and it asks if we have been in treatment we (in the interest of honesty) answer yes and walk right into Hell with our eyes wide open.

I like to think that this has been all for the good but only time will tell.

Hppy