Kentucky Board KARE

Florida is another state that makes stuff public and even after you make to the other side of your sentence, it never goes away. Confidential, my orifice. 
Also common is shoddy, half *** paperwork and documentation. Even though I self reported (back when my dumb self thought they were there to help us, not help themselves to the contents of your bank account.) my ‘sins’ still were made public. They also suspended my license “pending evaluation by IPN”. This was done at a meeting that I was unable to attend because the BONs  traveling clown car held the meeting a 6 hour drive away from me. When this got handed down, there were IPN reps at the meeting. You think they could be bothered to speak up for me and inform them that said evaluation was done a year ago and I had long since been duped into their silly and inappropriate treatment scam and under contract? Nope, they could not. I find this out a week later and upon getting a human being at the BON on the phone….the response is “oops, our bad.” No, I am not kidding, the person actually said that. It was fixed quickly enough but I still show a suspension on my record that never should have been there. 
I also just recently found out (2 years AFTER I finished jumping through their hoops) that while the state license reverted back to clear/active, they couldn’t be bothered to update NURSYS. I only discovered this because I applied to a Master’s program and the school caught the discrepancy.  I’m not sure if IPN didn’t submit some type of paperwork or the BON slacked off. I will probably never know and it’s not worth anymore than a shake of my head and not being shocked that a crappy low quality job was done.

In answer to the above question, yes it does seem as though board orders and contracts are boilerplate. They claim their contracts are ‘individualized.’ Yeah, individually the same as everyone else’s.

Mine claimed that an early out was possible but it turned out to be nothing more than babbling fly covered nonsense that looked pretty but really meant absolutely nothing. 
All these programs basically suck and do more harm than good in their current form. Changes are desperately needed but I truly don’t know how to begin.

On 8/25/2021 at 9:34 AM, casinjth2 said:

This would be great, I completely agree. For an agency that governs over exhausted and burnt out nurses they sure seem to care very little about their mental health.

Exactly!  One of the things I first said when I self reported, was that the reason why many healthcare providers hide their addiction is the fear of losing their livelihood (being able to work in our career).   It should not be that way.  I have a colleague who went through the Pharmacy equivilent to KARE and it was a much different experience (very positive).  I am still very new, have been off pain medication over two years (Percocet was my addiction/dependance due to ---SHOCKER --a spinal injury from work as a nurse).  I am glad I found this forum to connect.  I would love to find others local or semi-local to KY to connect with and share experiences and offer support.  ❤️

On 8/26/2021 at 11:23 PM, WildcatNP said:

Exactly!  One of the things I first said when I self reported, was that the reason why many healthcare providers hide their addiction is the fear of losing their livelihood (being able to work in our career).   It should not be that way.  I have a colleague who went through the Pharmacy equivilent to KARE and it was a much different experience (very positive).  I am still very new, have been off pain medication over two years (Percocet was my addiction/dependance due to ---SHOCKER --a spinal injury from work as a nurse).  I am glad I found this forum to connect.  I would love to find others local or semi-local to KY to connect with and share experiences and offer support.  ❤️

 

I have self reported to KBN and received my order for psychiatric evaluation.  I had already enrolled in IOP for chemical dependency so they were going to take my evaluation from the hospital where I am doing group.  I haven't heard another peep from them since December 10, 2021.  I have emailed but no response.  I have already started keeping track of my meeting attendance so I can take it with me when I do finally meet with them.  Have you been in contact with them?  Also I am looking for a job after I finish IOP which doesn't require a nursing license but with pending criminal I am thinking this may take some divine intervention!  I have been clean and sober since 11/29/21.

I’ve been reprimanded for thc due to a preemployment screen. 1 year of drug screens and a fine. Anyone been through something like this? From ky FYI too

Hello!! I'm excited I found this thread. Not sure if it is still active or not. Looking for some advice. Had a very frustrating day. I signed my original KARE agreement in 2018 and relapsed a few months later when my license was suspended for a period of what was supposed to be 2 years but ended up being 3 since I had requested a hearing not knowing that time didn't count towards the two years while waiting. Long story short, in March of 2022 I started the testing with affinity again to prove 12 consecutive months of sobriety/36 screenings before I was eligible for reinstatement. I have 3 years of sobriety. Original problem was opiates. I just got reinstated 2 weeks ago and was offered 3 years of monitoring under an agreed order or the option to request KARE for the full 5. If I request KARE my monitoring time starts without me finding a job as a RN. With the agreed order I have to be actively working as a RN for it to count towards the three years. I was leaning towards KARE so my time would start as I'm worried about finding employment since I am also on the OIG exclusion list for 3 more years. My meeting to discuss KARE is coming up soon. However, today I got a call from my case manager and have been in tears since. She said my last drug screen was positive for cocaine. She had the MRO officer call me and he said he would have them test the other specimen since they have two samples collected. I assured her I had not used any type of mind or mood altering drugs for 3 years. I'm nervous even about small things like using hand sanitizer much less would I go out and use cocaine a week after getting reinstated FINALLY! I asked the MRO Officer if I could do a hair test and he basically said it would not change the fact that I still had a positive urine test. I guess I'm just writing to see if anyone has ever experienced any problems like this or if anyone ever had a positive test for anything and when that happens, what does the board of nursing do to you? I'm a nervous wreck bc even though they are retesting the other specimen it was still the same urine from me, unless they somehow had a lab error and got it mixed up. Just have no idea what's next and what will happen or what I should do. Any advice would be appreciated. 

Sent you a PM

I have not had a positive text however I have had 3 tests that came back “out of range”. The 1st time I had it I was confused as to what it even meant. I called/emailed my case manager who never gets back to me in a timely manner. And he said it was a dilute specimen and basically was counted as a positive test! I was like WOW!, I said I’d do a blood text, hair what ever and he still was counted as positive.  Since then I have learned how to not get a dilute urine. Also he told me In the beginning to make sure you stay with your specimen until it’s sealed in the bag. That there have been cases where someone switches out clean urine for dirty urine. 
 

hope that helps

Granted I’ve been out of IPN for almost 3 glorious years but in my seemingly never ending time there, I managed to never have a dilute pee. How, you ask? Well I did the stupid checkin at 4am on the dot. Nothing will make you a morning person like waking up at 4am every blessed weekday for 5 years. If I was unfortunate to be “chosen”, then I just tried to not pee until I was there. Basically they got the first, very condensed pee of the morning. Could have run a pregnancy test off that. Trying to tell me that was a dilute would have gotten a word or three from my lawyer.

On 11/28/2018 at 1:37 PM, casinjth2 said:

I'm nearing 3 years into the program and I'm finally figuring out that KARE is not a recovery program for nurses but strictly a monitoring program.

I always understood that the rigorous requirements from the program were put into place to protect the squeaky clean image of the KBN: "We did everything we could to help this nurse, even giving them a second chance but they made a personal decesion to not follow the 5 year probation". This mindset keeps nurses reputations and the board unaffected in the publics eye.

Behind the scenes however we each have a case manager. A case managers job is primarily be an advocate, a second voice for their client and to assist them in ANY way possible with the ultimate goal in mind of acheiving client wellness (sobriety).

Now each case manager (which I imagine is just a handful) can have up to 100 clients to monitor. This leaves virtually no time for individualized attention or "KARE". The rules and regulations of the program are not individually based but a large singular veil cast over all participants (no matter your culture, religion, financial means, familial status, or anything). It's like expecting a serial rapist to rehabilitate in the same program as a shop lifter and the board expects this to work. The only time you will here from your only contact from within the board is when you've done something wrong. Otherwise there won't be a single "hey are you" or "just checking up on you". How would feel if your older son or daughter only called when they needed money, that's how isolated and alone I feel in this program.

I have made quite a bit of mistakes that were mostly trivial but when some questionable things came up in my UDS boy was in for it with my CM. I had been seriously ill for weeks and took it upon myself to buy OTC cold and flu medication which unfortunately contains alcohol. I received the phone call telling me there was a "high concentration" of alcohol in my test result. I specifically remember testing that day as it was only a week prior. I didn't test until 215pm and had my daughter with me all day. I didn't ask about the levels but one would assume in order to have a "high" concentration you'd have to either be completely and utterly drunk the night before or wake up drinking during the day. But since I had been sick for literally 3 weeks straight and taking into consideration all the liquid OTC medication I had taken that large amounts of ETOH accumulated in my system.

Anyway when I received the call my feelings were hurt because I had proof that I really was sick in the form of prescribed ABX but there was no sympathy or empathy. There was no "how are you feeling now" or "I'm worried about you" in any form. If you make a mistake, the only thing that will happen is you'll have the contract thrown in your face and hear "you agreed, you agreed, you agreed to the contract" over and over again.

Someone I know in KARE had to have an EMERGENCY medical procedure done and was given pain medication for the surgical procedure. Guess what? She was repremainded for not getting the MD to read over her entire contract, sign a form stating that he understood she was in the program and then sign another form explaining he's going to give her a dose of pain medication for the surgery. The tricky part is that her CM would have had to be notified of this BEFORE she actually took any medicine that was offered. Guys, it's 100,000% unreasonable to expect someone to say to an EMT oh wait before we go I need to print of my KARE paperwork for the doctor to sign and grab a copy of my KARE agreement all while I'm experiencing the most severe pain my life. THAT is what you'll deal with in this program. And this forum is the only way to tell these stories, to advocate for one another and support each other.

Don't bother defending your mistakes, don't bother trying to make sense out of the situation, don't bother thinking anything will be okay if something goes wrong. Always, always be vigelent and remember the KARE program is in place to monitor you for 5 years. Nothing more, nothing less.

It's been a very emotional last couple of months. I've finally broken the cycle of seasonal depression by getting on depression medication and I have felt absolutely wonderful, happy and positive. But those phone calls will bring you down into a very very dark place because you know they have their hands around your throat whilst dangling your license in front of your face. There is NO room for error or mistakes in this program. If you forget one signature or take one Tylenol without permission you risk losing your license. You must only rely on those around you for support as I've given my CM the benefit of the doubt by writing some of my most exclusive thoughts and feelings on each report only to be treated like a name and number on a page when something bad happens. It hurts and I suggest anyone in this avoid that pain by reading the contract rules once a month (just so you know) and live the cleanest and most honest life possible.

I'm here for anyone who needs support our is feeling alone, depressed or overwhelmed by the program. Sometimes others who are going exactly thriough what you are is a great way to relieve some of that stress and anxiety created by the program.

Hey I know this was years ago now but what ended up happening as a result of the positive uds due to the cold medicine? I’m going through almost the exact same thing right now. I’ve been told to get another substance abuse eval but otherwise everything else is up in the air ? Thanks in advance. 

I’m in the Kare program 6 months in of my 1 year sentence due to thc. Smh which every time I say that just makes me want to scream. Like I wasn’t even caught at work but with a preemployment drug screen. it’s just frustrating because I feel like I’m being treated like I’m a drug addict when I’m far from that not judging anyone who has addiction issues just saying I feel like I don’t deserve to be in the position I’m in but I guess most of us feel this way. And from some of the stuff I’ve read I guess I got let off pretty easy comparatively. However After reading someone’s post about how much the kare program and the people involved lack empathy I came here to say I couldn’t agree more. My case manager hasn’t checked up on me once unless I’ve reached out. Actually a matter-of-fact I just checked my email to see if she emailed me just to make sure and the last email I have from her was from June 30 because my son was hospitalized for three days. My newborn was hospitalized!! And all she wanted was at discharge summary which is great but never asked how he was doing or how I was doing. That was two weeks after he was born. But you can bet your bottom dollar they didn’t fail to drug test me right before and right after I gave birth as well as right after I got discharged from the hospital with my sick newborn. But prior to entering the program I was informed that I could be tested up to two times a month it could be every month it could be some months it could be one time a month it could be no times a month it just varied but six months and I have been tested twice a month every month faithfully. I have had one questionable test due to dilution and since then they’ve all been fine. And I know some of you may have it a lot harder than I do and I’m not here to compare it all sucks for all of us. And as far as we’re concerned I feel like it’s just a money scheme. I pay close to $200 a month and drug test along with a civil penalty of $1000 by the end of this I will have invested $2500 if I’m drug tested twice a month for the rest of the time. Like why can’t this be like jail when we get off on good behavior. I’ve done everything I was supposed to do and I’ve done it correctly. It just sucks all the way around and I’m just holding on till the end I’m halfway there. My thoughts go out to all of you going through this as well and I’m sending good and positive vibes your way and hope you can make it through.❤️

17 hours ago, GREATRN said:

 

Do not trust the board. They DO NOT have your best interest in mind. Never say anything or admit to anything. They do NOT want to be a nurse anymore. I agree about the money scheme. Affinity is making a killing off our suffering. I’ve had to go to the governor about my issues. I’m hoping for a pardon since the board governs themselves. You “case manager” is an Investigator and nothing more. They don’t care if you newborn died and you relapsed. They’ll still suspend your license. Don’t post on here anymore. Everything you say, as heartfelt as it, will be used against you! They’ll pick one sentence out and screw you over!

Looking for anyone who might’ve had a similar experience with KARE/the KBN.

One of my UDS came back positive for etg. I had not drank but was sick on and off most of august and taking day/nightquil. I explained this to my CM when she called about the UDS. Regardless the board slapped a cease practice on me and ordered another substance abuse eval. The day following my conversation with my CM she emails me informing me that “due to your denial of alcohol ingestion, you’ve been ordered a blood PEth test today through affinity.” So $168 and two days later the PEth test came back negative (aligning with my statement that I had not drank alcohol). My CM let’s me know that regardless of this negative result, my cease practice remains in effect until I get the substance abuse evaluation. The “guilty until proven innocent” mindset is extremely frustrating and belittling. Anywho, the only “answer” I’ve received from my CM is that she’ll contact me once she gets a copy of the evaluation and we’ll “discuss the evaluator’s recommendations for you to return to work”.

If anyone has experienced something similar what ended up being the evaluators recommendations and did the board make you wait any amount of time before returning to work? I’m an ANM at an extremely understaffed clinic and would like to return to my staff and patients! TIA ?