Invalid drug test?

Nurses General Nursing

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Hurt myself on the job. Was given 2 drug test that night. Both showed invalid. Then the next told to go to an inservice. Was given another test and it showed up invalid. Ask charge nurse if it could because I take Herbs for pain which can be made into prescription drugs. At present haven't been back to work. Saturday told by Doctor not to lift more than 15lb. Called in on weekend and was told to report to human resources Monday. I was not scheduled back to work until Tues thus will be reporting to human resources tomorrow.

Has anyone else had a invalid on blood test from pee?

Specializes in Certified Med/Surg tele, and other stuff.

No, but I have heard it happening.

Good luck and I hope you feel better soon!

Specializes in Addiction, Psych, Geri, Hospice, MedSurg.

This can happen for an array of reasons (I work in an addiction clinic). It could be a bad lot of tests. It could be they performed it wrong. There could be medications that made it invalid. They will have to look at meds that cross over. This is THEIR problem with the test and the test manufacturer.

Above all, they can not blame you, nor can they fire you because their test failed. What they SHOULD HAVE done was immediately send you for a blood drug test (which in most instances cheaper than a urine screen, but not fast results - more accurate results, however).

Good luck.

Never had invalid drug test,,,if you are ask to report to human resourses; I will guess thats not a good sign.

I hope you listed the herbs on the rx drug information when you were ask to take the test,,good luck.

Never had invalid drug test,,,if you are ask to report to human resourses; I will guess thats not a good sign.

I hope you listed the herbs on the rx drug information when you were ask to take the test,,good luck.

Why would an invalid test not be a good sign? Invalid does not equal positive. The tests are either defective or their equipment is faulty. I wouldn't worry.

Perhaps they just want a blood test instead.

Looked at ingredients on homoeopathic for headache I have been taking.

First ingredients are:

Cinchona officinalis is Quinine Bark

Condurango, is South America bark of a vine of the milkweed family

Pulsatilla is a species of flowering plant in the family Ranunculaceae

orificenicum album derived from the metallic element orificenic

This is what probably caused it to be invalid which means low amount of drugs according to Doctor I saw today. I didn't write down anywhere medications I was taking but was asked.

Hoping the reason for going to human resources is that they don't know what job to assign me to. For already 3 doing light duty and Doctor not to lift more than 15lbs.

Specializes in Med/Surg & Rehab.

When you say "invalid" do you mean that they showed positive for drugs? Or do you mean that it was inconclusive, meaning the test wouldn't show up one way or the other..

Specializes in LTC,Hospice/palliative care,acute care.

Do the herbs change the color of your urine? That can cause a test to be invalidated.

I think the herbs are affecting the color of my urine. For I urine test I did at school showed the density to be thick and it is a darker yellow than it use to be.

When you say "invalid" do you mean that they showed positive for drugs? Or do you mean that it was inconclusive, meaning the test wouldn't show up one way or the other..

Inconclusive. Heard supervisor saying it looked a little negative but not certain.

Well today was my 1st day back to work. I was really scared. They were just uncertain what to do with me. For with me have 5 on light duty now.

Specializes in Med/Surg & Rehab.

Glad to see they allowed you back.

5 on light duty? All from back injuries? This is why every facility should have a no lifting policy. With the amount of money they pay out in workers comp each year, they could buy a lift.

Specializes in Psych ICU, addictions.

I had an invalid test once but it was determined to be the testing facility's fault, not mine--they didn't follow procedure and so my sample was compromised. I retested and it came through negative.

I would ask for a retest ASAP. I would also try to hold off on herbal medications until you get this straightened out because they can mess with urine and possibly the drug test results.

Best of luck.

5 on light duty? All from back injuries? This is why every facility should have a no lifting policy.

No one I saw has a band ankle sprain. Patient lost balance in bathroom and her foot went sideways as she rebalanced him.

This is a no lift facility. Having 12 to 16 patients puts a lot of pressure on you to rush and then accidents happen. My injury occurred while hooking man up to lift for I was leaning forward doing it. Rushing did not move the wheel chair so that I could stand by the side of the patient

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