I was fired recently for diversion of opiates from my job ICU in GA. HR called me into the office and started explaining things, and I just cut them off and said I was diverting. I now wish I hadn't confessed so easily, but I thought being honest would help me (it did not). They had video evidence and vials I had filled with half saline and put the tops back on, so I knew they had me. I obviously have a problem and want to get treatment. I'm 14 days sober right now.
I have been talking to all the recommended people and my understanding is typically in a case like this my license will be put on probation for 5 years and I'll have to be drug/alcohol tested bi-monthly and go to meetings weekly, get an assessment, follow those recommendations, report quarterly, etc.
I'm really mad at myself because I stopped multiple times and just couldn't stay stopped. I've been a critical care nurse for 10 years. It's not always what I thought it would be and is a second career choice after graduating during the great 2008 recession and everyone being laid off. I went back to school for nursing to mainly help people but also for the security and the flexibility. There are many aspects of nursing I love, but many I have become very disillusioned with as well.
I haven't started the program yet but I know it is life consuming. The probation status makes it very difficult to get a job. I have two very small kids at home (3 and less) and am honestly pretty confident that I would be successful at doing something else. Something that, well frankly, pays better (8$ raise in 4 years is unheard of in almost any other field, but nursing we're supposed to be grateful for it?), doesn't take my weekends and holidays and doesn't require me getting kicked at at yelled at by people. My brother got a cert online and has worked remote for Lowe's for only 3 years and he's about to pass what I make, working from home, not putting foleys in people who are trying to claw your eyes out.
My heath is my top concern. I need therapy for anll the traumatic things that led me here (SA at 6) and counseling and I know I'll never touch an IV pain med if I'm not around it. I'm not sure how I'm supposed to work, be a good mom, and do everything the program asks of me. My issue has never been alcohol and I can't even have wine next year on a planned trip to Europe? I know I made a huge mistake. I guess I'm just wondering if it's worth it? Has anyone made their license inactive or allowed it to be revoked? I may want to come back to nursing one day, but my kids will only be little for a little and I don't want to be beholden to not going camping for their Spring break/ on vacation away from a place that could test me/ finding childcare on short notice if needed for a 5 year program for a job that has honestly burned me out and made me jaded.
I'm also worried if I do this they may come after me criminally? Has anyone ever dealt with anything like this? I'm trying to think of a way they could just suspend my license and allow me to pay for my own tests and go to treatment how I see fit for my wellness and maybe get it reinstated at a later date? I just don't know if I love nursing enough to do all this. I don't know and now I'm just rambling. Thoughts?
If she is having no issues at work and had no mental health issues at the TIME of applying for her license thst would preclude her from doing in her job and there are no issues at work and no major discrepancies, then NO. Nothing will be done as the passing out and child issues are concerning the Board will still consider this off duty personal squabble stuff and overwhelming odds nothing happens.
Additionally, since over 5 years have passed since the email you have I doubt nothing is done. If she still has mental health issues and has a substance abuse issues IT WILL come to light sooner or later and it will present itself sooner or later at work. You have done your job and reported it and did the right thing. It's out of your hands now and I would move on
If she is having no issues at work and had no mental health issues at the TIME of applying for her license thst would preclude her from doing in her job and there are no issues at work and no major discrepancies, then NO. Nothing will be done as the passing out and child issues are concerning the Board will still consider this off duty personal squabble stuff and overwhelming odds nothing happens.
Additionally, since over 5 years have passed since the email you have I doubt nothing is done. If she still has mental health issues and has a substance abuse issues IT WILL come to light sooner or later and it will present itself sooner or later at work. You have done your job and reported it and did the right thing. It's out of your hands now and I would move on
her license status just changed from multi-state to single state, so IDK what that means. Still says unencumbered. I hope she can get better whether she is being held accountable with the peer assistance program or not
Specializes in Critical Care, ER and Administration.
I've dealt with this from the administrative end. I had an ICU RN that was diverting. The RN was caught and also confessed when confronted. The RN did the program and was retained by the hospital. Yes, the RN could have been prosecuted but wasn't. The second was a program nurse on one of my floors. The RN tricked a new grad RN into getting a PCA Demerol for them. Then the program RN disappeared before the count was done. The police were involved. They found the RN unresponsive on their apartment floor. The RN's life was saved. You could wind up like this RN. I really hope that you get the help that you need. You need to take full responsibility and realize the harm you were doing by stealing the medication from your patients. I wish you well. My advice if you face your board of nursing, which you should, is to be very honest with them. Honesty goes a long way in their decisions. They can smell a lie a mile away and they will come down hard.
It is frustrating to hear that you think I'll relapse or overdose if I don't follow what a nursing board who doesn't know me at all. My doctors in the rehab I'm currently in are saying either choice is OK, as long as I get treatment.
If I go to a rehab that fits me but isn't PHP, and I stay sober for 5 years, or 10 years, or 15 years, does that not prove I can do it?
The words above are your words, not mine. I never wrote that I think you will overdose or relapse if you don't "Follow what the Nurse Board Says.' At zero times in my post did I imply it. The nurse board has ZERO relevance to your chances of relapse or OD. What has relevance to you not relapsing or ODing? EXACTLY what I wrote. TREATMENT. PHP followed by IOP followed by Aftercare and during all 3 of those above, 3 recovery meetings per week. That's what I wrote because best evidence suggests exactly that.
As for rehab, I am still unable to tell if you are in rehab. Your words indicate you are in rehab, then you wrote "if I go to rehab." I want to be clear on one thing. Rehab and Medical 2 week Detox are NOT the same thing. Many people throw around those 2 as synonymous across the country. They aren't. Medical detox is detox and has little relevance to long term recovery. It's a stepping stone for crisis which is good, but it's simply detox and NOT rehab. Rehab is a Process and in recovery circles, rehab generally means 6 weeks of PHP, then 6 weeks of IOP, then 1 year of Aftercare. Complete those 3 and you complete rehab. Completing a 2 weeks detox is not completing rehab. One is Two weeks and the other is 15 months.
As for whether it's worth it for career? You already know that answer. Money and your ability to make money plays into it and it should versus how much you like nursing or would be fine with another career. What should NOT play into it? Worry about how tough a 5 year monitoring program would be. If your decision to move away from nursing is largely based on not wanting to go through a 5 year monitoring program, then understand the factors that led to drug use. Those factors, you will find, will likely have the same core traits that are leading to a decision to not want to go through with a 5 year monitoring program and that's dangerous traits. I am Not saying you are avoiding a monitoring program either. I'm saying the above for any nurse in our situation that has a SUD.
I will repeat this so I'm clear. If you have progressed to the point of filling syringes with saline, the statistical odds of you reusing in the next 5 years are not high, but they are approaching AUTOMATIC IF....keyword....IF you don't do a PHP, IOP, and Aftercare. These 3 have zero to do with a nursing board. You can do those and leave the field of nursing or stay in it. You can do the 3 above without a nurse board telling you and if you leave the field and work on a new degree or find a new field, totally a personal choice, but you can still do Rehab (PHP, IOP, Aftercare).
Honestly my friend I would commit yourself to the program bc it's clear you do have a problem with pain medication. The program sucks I know but honestly it keeps you accountable and assists in sobriety. Atleast for me I got a dui for alcohol for the longest time ignored the damage I was doing while under the influence of alcohol even though I did not drink daily and never on the job or even the night before I had to work. But the program helps. Yes it's a pain but honestly for me if I wasn't in the program most likely I would be drinking again and I'm so proud of myself that I am not and am finding other ways besides substance to cope with daily and life stresses
Honestly my friend I would commit yourself to the program bc it's clear you do have a problem with pain medication. The program sucks I know but honestly it keeps you accountable and assists in sobriety. Atleast for me I got a dui for alcohol for the longest time ignored the damage I was doing while under the influence of alcohol even though I did not drink daily and never on the job or even the night before I had to work. But the program helps. Yes it's a pain but honestly for me if I wasn't in the program most likely I would be drinking again and I'm so proud of myself that I am not and am finding other ways besides substance to cope with daily and life stresses
Committing to a program (nurse monitoring program) is NOT required in my opinion for her recovery. That commit to a program would be required to maintain license and stay in the field of nursing. If she wants to leave the nursing field, that is OK and a personal choice each person must make. The point I'm making is........do the PHP/IOP/Aftercare REGARDLESS of whether she stays in nursing or leaves nursing because based on her level of addiction, without those, the statistical odds are.....she's in major, major trouble from an addiction standpoint. You DO NOT STOP on your own when you progress to the point of filling syringes with saline/substitute opioids. Can she stop for 2 months? Sure. 6 months? Sure. Lets say she leaves nursing and has no access to opiates. Can she stop for 10 months? Absolutely possible, BUT........can she stop for over 1 year or 2 years? ZERO chance. ZERO. She will either resume/find opiates or trade the addiction to something else, whether it's alcohol or food or porn or gambling or obsessive shopping and it will destroy her personal relationships, family life, work life to the point she repeats the process and circles back to another addiction. Why? This is what data shows when a person is that advanced and does NOT do the Rehab (again, Rehab Means 6 weeks PHP, 6 weeks IOP, 1 year of Aftercare). That's rehab.
Committing to a program (nurse monitoring program) is NOT required in my opinion for her recovery. That commit to a program would be required to maintain license and stay in the field of nursing. If she wants to leave the nursing field, that is OK and a personal choice each person must make. The point I'm making is........do the PHP/IOP/Aftercare REGARDLESS of whether she stays in nursing or leaves nursing because based on her level of addiction, without those, the statistical odds are.....she's in major, major trouble from an addiction standpoint. You DO NOT STOP on your own when you progress to the point of filling syringes with saline/substitute opioids. Can she stop for 2 months? Sure. 6 months? Sure. Lets say she leaves nursing and has no access to opiates. Can she stop for 10 months? Absolutely possible, BUT........can she stop for over 1 year or 2 years? ZERO chance. ZERO. She will either resume/find opiates or trade the addiction to something else, whether it's alcohol or food or porn or gambling or obsessive shopping and it will destroy her personal relationships, family life, work life to the point she repeats the process and circles back to another addiction. Why? This is what data shows when a person is that advanced and does NOT do the Rehab (again, Rehab Means 6 weeks PHP, 6 weeks IOP, 1 year of Aftercare). That's rehab.
JB C, did you not see above where I said I was doing rehab? You don't know me at all and your eagerness to judge a literal stranger over and over and over as if you know me is odd. You're responding to people like I'm not reading these saying I'm going to ruin my life? I'll be happy to report back when I haven't. Also, there are a lot of different kinds of rehab and none of the data shows 100% anything. So you are not correct that I have zero chance at anything, whether it be sobriety or relapse. No rehab is 100%. I am 100% sure I'm happy no one in the rehab I'm in acts like you though.
I would love you to cite the study that shows I will 100% relapse if I don't do exactly as you stay and the other study that shows I will 100% stay sober if I do.
My question wasn't about rehab, I have repeatedly said I'm doing it. My question was about a career change because I'm not sure I love nursing anymore. Thank you so much for your advice about a topic I did not ask for.
I read where you also wrote in your post "if I go to rehab." Of course no rehab is 100 percent, everyone knows that. You asked me to cite "a study." My friend it's about multitudes of studies and clinical experience that has seen this picture over 50 times. ZERO humans quit for good when they have advanced to the level of filling syringes IF....IF they don't do rehab. Zero. Ask any human that is an addictionologistogist and you will get the Dsame answer across the world.
Nobody is "judging" you. I'm not giving an "opinion." I'm giving you factual data about the ability to stop and stay clean and not relapse with rehab versus no rehab. The differences are completely on two separate planets and I'm being Honest with you, not judging you.
You can and will do exactly as YOU wish. I'm not "saying" to do anything. That's your call. You do what you wish, but I need my conscience clear in knowing you were told the truth based on best available evidence. At the end of the day, the decision to stay in nursing and complete rehab is your decision only, not anyone elses.
Hope you are doing well. I'm in a similar situation. I just started my probation period 5 months ago. I have not even tried to find another nursing position yet, mostly out of fear. I've been going to the required therapy meetings twice a week, but it's difficult to discuss because generally there are no healthcare people in these meetings. It would be great to talk to someone like yourself who is going through this.
@JohnHood hello I saw you state there was a ICU nurse that you knew that was caught diverting and she was retained by the hospital? Does that mean she kept her job? If so what was her stipulations did they move her to a new unit ? Could she still pass meds ?
I say you do whatever is best for you and only you and your treatment providers know that. Do whatever you need to do to stay sober for those babies because they need you more than any job or letters behind your name. I have been dealing with the nursing board since 2012 for purchasing opiates on the street. period. I have never been in trouble at a job or place of employment... I have had more and more time added for minimal material noncompliances such as forgetting to check in by 2 pm one day ( I even tested on my own). the board waiting a year and a half to decide they didn't have all of my monthly forms... missing a couple of meetings due to illness...( not ever once failing a drug test).. I am fairly unorganized, but that's about all I am guilty of yet here I am in 2025. I finally got a lawyer in 2023 and just now got another consent agreement for 2 months, yep, 2 months. I'm still not sure that these 2 months were only given so they can find something else to add more time. In between these 3 material noncompliances were 1 1/2 years to 2 years waiting on the board to decide what to do with me, which was always another consent agreement. These are facts... So, if you do not think you can deal with any of that please do what is best for you...And I can assure you I have been sober from my doc (opiates) since August of 2012... I completed 1 year of drug court and 5 years of supervised probation without one issue/problem or failed drug screen... for my crime of purchasing a narcotic on the street which was conspiracy...yet all these years later I am still dealing with the nursing board....
@JohnHood hello I saw you state there was a ICU nurse that you knew that was caught diverting and she was retained by the hospital? Does that mean she kept her job? If so what was her stipulations did they move her to a new unit ? Could she still pass meds ?
Warning! The Ole "nursing outlier," where the nurse hears it, and the nurse assumes the 1 in 1000 outlier is Gospel. Not trying to be rude hear, but do NOT run with the outlier. What am I meaning? The absolute overwhelming odds are....when you get into trouble or divert from the hospital, you lose your job 999 out of 1000 times. You keep your job 1 in 1000 times. The above incident reported in this thread certainly does happen and it does occur where a nurse keeps their job, but I want to warn you that this is Incredibly Uncommon and the Exception the rule. It's especially rare for a specialty area like ICU and ER.
The hospital is taking a Massive....Massive risk by retaining/not firing the nurse and they overwhelmingly will NOT take that risk. In the very very rare circumstances that a nurse is retained and not fired, they are moved to another unit and even this......is usually Rare. The nurse nearly....not always.....but nearly always loses her job or is "highly recommended" to resign which is essentially that same outcome. The job is lost. I always recommend having hope and faith, but realistic expectations are important.
Athenaray
86 Posts
If she is having no issues at work and had no mental health issues at the TIME of applying for her license thst would preclude her from doing in her job and there are no issues at work and no major discrepancies, then NO. Nothing will be done as the passing out and child issues are concerning the Board will still consider this off duty personal squabble stuff and overwhelming odds nothing happens.
Additionally, since over 5 years have passed since the email you have I doubt nothing is done. If she still has mental health issues and has a substance abuse issues IT WILL come to light sooner or later and it will present itself sooner or later at work. You have done your job and reported it and did the right thing. It's out of your hands now and I would move on