Kentucky Board KARE

Mscoolmug said:

absolutely not meant to be your friend, but it would be cool if they didn't actively try to kick you while you're down. Parole is the worst. I haven't been on parole but I work with the homeless population and have to take them from jail to parole before mental health court and the way I have to bite my tongue because WHY ARE YOU TALKING TO HIM LIKE THAT. 😮‍💨 and that's literally not even a small piece of it. And it's not even me and it gets me so upset. I wish I had a support a system like that. That's so good for you and your sobriety. Most of my coworkers are in felony probation and in recovery. I go to AA with a couple of my teammates pretty often if we're out and they want to hit a meeting. Don't laugh at me like they did LOL but I swear no one out there outshines someone in recovery. They're a whole light in this world. (I stole that from fb but it's true). The strength it takes, all of the hard work on healing yourself...to walk into parole or the BON giving you all the ways you should fail 😒 I got punished for lazy work from my employer and the BON.  But it all really opened my eyes. Changes need to be made. I don't have the answers. I just wish I knew a path to even begin to advocate for that. Everything happens for a reason. I was put in a place where (ironically, really) I'm surrounded by people in recovery and get to work side by side with them, learning from their journey. I have seen coworkers relapse, go to treatment and come back to work or the flip side, not make it to treatment and overdose 😔 my patients are usually in active addiction, unhoused and trying to survive. I am really lucky that I had a caseworker who advocated for me at all times. She wasn't my friend but she damn sure was going to help me succeed when I wanted to quit. She even advocated and got me release 4 days early so I didn't have to wait another whole weekend. My story won't be changed no matter what I do from here. I was so blind sighted by how someone could just lie and the BON could just go with it without evidence. A legal team in place doesn't mean much when one nurse can't fight the whole system. They might have enough money to fight for themselves but that broken system is still there. It has the potential to harm all of us. I was really upset about how my case was decided but when that nurse admitted to me and apologized, wrote a statement and it wasn't even taken for consideration...I had completely my monitoring already. I just wanted my name cleaned. She was in active addiction and very functional until she wasn't. I don't blame her at all. She wasn't trying to harm me and didn't have the strength to speak up. The facility I worked for knew though. Noone will  convince me otherwise. And now the BON knows but doesn't care. I'm assuming it's safer to just deny it bc if they pull back a public discipline it's admitting fault and mishandling a case, opening up for legal action. Again, I have no answers on how to fix anything or even any ideas. I just hope if someone hears my story they 1. Always carry insurance to protect themselves and 2. Be braver and louder than I was through the process. If I had been braver and louder, I might have had a different outcome. 

Well you have handled yourself with grace even if it took a bit. We can't stay stuck in the past, only move forward but I can promise you your story will always help someone at some point, they always do. Thank you for sharing your story with me. I appreciate it greatly. 

Thank you! And thank you for sharing yours! 

Hello! I'm hoping someone is still on this forum and can help me out soon. 
 

This week I was at work and pulled into HR to be told I was accused of drug diversion. They placed me on administrative leave and sent me in a taxi to get a drug screen. I will admit that it will pop positive. I'm currently in limbo and awaiting to hear what comes next. 
 

While I'm waiting... should I reach out to the KBN or KARE program and self report? I am willing to do whatever I need to in order to keep my license and get the help I need. Just looking for some advice on what to do, or even what to say once my employer has the results. 

DuckyGirl06 said:

Hello! I'm hoping someone is still on this forum and can help me out soon. 
 

This week I was at work and pulled into HR to be told I was accused of drug diversion. They placed me on administrative leave and sent me in a taxi to get a drug screen. I will admit that it will pop positive. I'm currently in limbo and awaiting to hear what comes next. 
 

While I'm waiting... should I reach out to the KBN or KARE program and self report? I am willing to do whatever I need to in order to keep my license and get the help I need. Just looking for some advice on what to do, or even what to say once my employer has the results. 

Consider getting a lawyer if you can afford one. If anything, consult with one on what exactly to do 

casinjth2 said:

Consider getting a lawyer if you can afford one. If anything, consult with one on what exactly to do 

Thanks for this. I've just seen a lot of posts that says an attorney wasn't worth the time or money. 

For anyone still participating in this thread: is it true that you cannot take any type of antihistamine or cold medication during your time in the program? It seems unrealistic to think that one would be able to do without those things for 5 years. 

DuckyGirl06 said:

For anyone still participating in this thread: is it true that you cannot take any type of antihistamine or cold medication during your time in the program? It seems unrealistic to think that one would be able to do without those things for 5 years. 
 

you can if you get a note from your doctor. They have to sign a form stating they know you're in KARE, what the medication is, what it's for, and how long you're able to take it. I needed NyQuil when I had Covid, and my doctor wrote for ongoing PRN so I was covered the whole year I was in monitoring. If I got a positive from it (and I did once) it just went to a "prescription positive" status and I had no issues about it. 

DuckyGirl06 said:

For anyone still participating in this thread: is it true that you cannot take any type of antihistamine or cold medication during your time in the program? It seems unrealistic to think that one would be able to do without those things for 5 years. 

You can take antihistamines like Zyrtec and Claritin . U can also take certain mucinex. No DayQuil or anything of that nature not even theraflu. Your BON should have a list on their page telling you what you can take. 

Thank you for the quick responses! If I could ask one more question...

I self-reported to the BON last weekend. But I have no idea how long this will take to get started, especially over the holidays. Can you all tell me how long the process took for you and how long you were out of work?

DuckyGirl06 said:

Thank you for the quick responses! If I could ask one more question...

I self-reported to the BON last weekend. But I have no idea how long this will take to get started, especially over the holidays. Can you all tell me how long the process took for you and how long you were out of work?

I think it just depends truthfully. Depends what all is involved in your case/investigation. In January 2023 I was reported by an employer for potential relapse. By the end of February 2023 I had my SUD evaluation, by beginning of April 2023 I was signing my agreed order. June 2023 I failed a UDS and voluntarily surrendered my license to go to long term treatment. By August 2023 I was ready to start my random UDS testing to get reinstated. By mid August 2023 I had signed my new agreed order for reinstatement. By Ocotober 4th 2024 I was reinstated and by the end of October 2024 I signed for the KARE program. My process was pretty quick, but I haven't had any hiccups or anything else in the last year and now it is all just routine. Hope that is helpful 

DuckyGirl06 said:

Thank you for the quick responses! If I could ask one more question...

I self-reported to the BON last weekend. But I have no idea how long this will take to get started, especially over the holidays. Can you all tell me how long the process took for you and how long you were out of work?

I feel like it went pretty quick (a week or two) for me? My lawyer actually had me fill out the fit to work thing before I entered the program so my license was suspended for like 3 hours LOL I will say they gave no warning, just sent me an email saying I was no longer allowed to practice until I submitted the eval so if it is possible for you to get that done ASAP I would. Then you can either submit it before they ask or wait until they do but at least it will be ready! They changed my license to active again within an hour or so of me submitting the paperwork. 

TIMFY said:

I feel like it went pretty quick (a week or two) for me? My lawyer actually had me fill out the fit to work thing before I entered the program so my license was suspended for like 3 hours LOL I will say they gave no warning, just sent me an email saying I was no longer allowed to practice until I submitted the eval so if it is possible for you to get that done ASAP I would. Then you can either submit it before they ask or wait until they do but at least it will be ready! They changed my license to active again within an hour or so of me submitting the paperwork. 

Do you recommend getting an attorney? Seems like most of the posts I've seen state it's pointless.