Important Question

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Hello,

I am not a nurse but I have a question about a friend of mine who is a nurse and is in early recovery. She was diverting medication but never got caught. She quit her job and put herself in a 28 day rehab program. She has been clean and sober for almost 5 months now. She is very active in AA and is trying hard to embrace her recovery. She just got hired for a nursing job without controlled substances access. She decided not to self report to the board of nursing. So no one knows of her addiction outside her husband and of some women in AA. My question is by her deciding not to self report to the board will this put her at greater risk of relapse in the future? I know she is nervous about sharing at meetings because she is still afraid her past will catch up with her. Any thoughts??

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Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.

It's hard to say. A lot depends on how committed your friend is to her recovery; five months is a great start, five years is better. However, the most honorable thing to do would be to report herself to the Board and be willing to enter a monitoring program. This would probably do more to keep her honest and reduce the possibility of relapse, because these programs not only do random drug screens, but offer counseling services and peer group meetings. She also needs to stick with AA and work the steps rigorously.

I am glad she doesn't have access to narcotics this early in her recovery. Diversion is VERY serious, and once that ethical barrier has been breached it's much easier to do it again, and again, and again. The fact that your friend wasn't caught does not diminish the significance of the act. She really does need to self-report; this shows integrity and will look better in the eyes of the BON than if the diversion were somehow found out, which is always possible despite the relative anonymity of AA.

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It's ultimately up to her. Reporting her won't stop the inevitable. Let her live and learn from her mistakes. This is the only way we learn. You can't force her to be ready. Not too mention, you could ruin her financially and psychologically.

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I think she's fine. She's getting help. Why have that counting against her now. But then again she was diverting meds.

Thats a tough question, but My first response is no. Is there someone she feels she can be accountable to that is also a nurse?

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I would not report to the board if I wasn't forced to. I am grateful for my recovery BUT board reporting causes a lot of struggles for the future regarding getting jobs, etc. if she's doing it without the BON knowing, that would be best for her career. Nevertheless, if she relapses, the BON will most likely find out.

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Specializes in ICU, psych, corrections.

I don't think I would have remained clean and sober that first year or two without the accountability of my BON. I am very grateful to them and Monday will be 6 years clean/sober for me. I don't regret for a minute self reporting. Ever. Was it a difficult time? Yes. But all the times I had quit in the past never stuck because I would end up relapsing months later. By having a board to be accountable to helped me get through some very difficult times in my sobriety. And if I had diverted, I definitely would have needed outside help. As someone mentioned, once you cross that ethical line, it's much easier to do it again especially if you are keeping it a secret from the board. As I like to remind myself "I am only as sick as my secrets".

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Specializes in ICU, psych, corrections.

And might I add....if she is working a true program of recovery, then rigorous honesty is a policy to live by. What will she do when she renews her license and they ask on there "have you ever been treated for dependency to alcohol or drugs" or that question in some other form? Our application has that question on there and if you lie, then they find out (being in a 28 day program, it CAN be tracked), you are at risk for having your license revoked. Just a thought.

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Very true... It's a challenging question. And myself as well would not be clean today without the accountability offered to me by the BON...

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