My name is Anne and I am an addict!

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Specializes in ER, TRAUMA, MED-SURG.

Hey fellow recovering nurses. My name is Anne and I am an addict! I am SO glad you guys started this thread. It was so great to see after the other rather negative sites I have found elsewhere on the net.

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU !!!!!!!

7 years and counting!!

Anne, RNC:smiley_aa

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Specializes in Med-Surg, Geriatric, Behavioral Health.

You are most welcome, Anne. Yes...the Net is filled with negative Recovery forums. Thank you for pointing this out. This may be due to little or no or poor moderating. My purpose for this forum here is to not have this forum follow suit. The forum is moderated to ensure that it is a place for you and others to find "that safe place" to continue in abstinence, to help others who seek it for themselves, and to discuss and share topics that provide meaningful dialog supporting that goal. That is not to say we don't have our bad days...where things feel or seem to be at their worst. But, even on our off days such as these, we will all know at least one place on the Net where we can call "inviting, accepting, and supportive"...that's here, in this forum, at allnurses. As nurses, we can begin practicing what we preach to others....taking care of each other as members as we take care of ourselves. Thank you for your kind words for the forum. I look forward to having you frequent us.

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Specializes in Med-Surg.

Hi Anne! I agree. I'm sure Wolfie and his moderators are going to keep it positive. :)

Congrats on the 7 years!

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Specializes in Med-Surg, Geriatric, Behavioral Health.

Sobriety medallion...Congrats, my friend.

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Specializes in ER, TRAUMA, MED-SURG.
Sobriety medallion...Congrats, my friend.

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You are wonderful! Thank you SO much! You gonna make a girl cry! (Good tears, of course!!!!)

Thank you! Anne

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Specializes in ER, TRAUMA, MED-SURG.

:thankya:

Hi Anne! I agree. I'm sure Wolfie and his moderators are going to keep it positive. :)

Congrats on the 7 years!

Tweety - Thank you so much! You, Cat, and Taz are my heroes!! You guys make a great sounding board and shoulder to vent on. I will always be so grateful for that. It makes it so much more tolerable after a crappy day!

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It's weird that this is the first post my eyes fell upon.. I have a very dear friend, a 20 + nursing vet and phenomenal patient advocate who i have worked with for over 2 years. She is the type every new nurse runs to for advice, help, support- you know the type? Wonderful mom, great friend. Imagine my true shock when she told me about her problem with dilaudid a few years back. But hey, we all go through it sometimes, so I listened, I learned ( believe it or not after 7 yrs nursing experience, I had NO CLUE what diversion was), and I was truly horrified by the stories I heard of what goes on in these diversion programs. Sounds a little too punitive in my opinion, and it doesn't seem like anyone really tries to find out what this person needs to truly heal.

Anyhoo, I am sad to say my good friend recently relapsed, and is now out of a job and facing God knows what next. I find myself angry at the way she was let go from her job, at our manager's reaction to it all, and I wonder how you guys feel about the nurse diversion program? Am I blinded by my friend's issue? Or does this program need a serious overhaul? God Bless you all who take this on day by day, and know that you have my support and admiration.:balloons:

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I self reported to my BON almost 16 years ago after being caught diverting drugs at work. Massach8usetts SARP (Substance Abuse Recovery Program) saved my life. I was given a prescription for recovering. 1. Rehab (I didn't need detox, just rehab so I went to a two week outpatient program) where I learned I had a disease, 2. AA, 3. get a sponsor in AA, 4. attend recovering nurse's meetings in addition not instead of AA and 5. meet SARPs high standards which included the above plus quarterly SARP meetings, random urine screens, signatures from meetings for several years and narcotics restrictions at work. Yes , I continued to work and found most of my peers very supportive. After 5 years of faithfully following this prescription I graduated from SARP (with a diploma and the sealing of my record with the BON) but not from AA. I still regularly attend 3 meetings a week, have and am a sponsor, work the steps and have a life I never dreamed was possible for me. I will celebrate 16 years of being clean, sober and in recovery in May. As I said, they saved my life and I am eternally grateful.

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Specializes in Med-Surg, Geriatric, Behavioral Health.
I self reported to my BON almost 16 years ago after being caught diverting drugs at work. Massach8usetts SARP (Substance Abuse Recovery Program) saved my life. I was given a prescription for recovering. 1. Rehab (I didn't need detox, just rehab so I went to a two week outpatient program) where I learned I had a disease, 2. AA, 3. get a sponsor in AA, 4. attend recovering nurse's meetings in addition not instead of AA and 5. meet SARPs high standards which included the above plus quarterly SARP meetings, random urine screens, signatures from meetings for several years and narcotics restrictions at work. Yes , I continued to work and found most of my peers very supportive. After 5 years of faithfully following this prescription I graduated from SARP (with a diploma and the sealing of my record with the BON) but not from AA. I still regularly attend 3 meetings a week, have and am a sponsor, work the steps and have a life I never dreamed was possible for me. I will celebrate 16 years of being clean, sober and in recovery in May. As I said, they saved my life and I am eternally grateful.

16.gif

Hugs and Congrats.

Thank you for your story.

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Specializes in ER, TRAUMA, MED-SURG.
It's weird that this is the first post my eyes fell upon.. I have a very dear friend, a 20 + nursing vet and phenomenal patient advocate who i have worked with for over 2 years. She is the type every new nurse runs to for advice, help, support- you know the type? Wonderful mom, great friend. Imagine my true shock when she told me about her problem with dilaudid a few years back. But hey, we all go through it sometimes, so I listened, I learned ( believe it or not after 7 yrs nursing experience, I had NO CLUE what diversion was), and I was truly horrified by the stories I heard of what goes on in these diversion programs. Sounds a little too punitive in my opinion, and it doesn't seem like anyone really tries to find out what this person needs to truly heal.

Anyhoo, I am sad to say my good friend recently relapsed, and is now out of a job and facing God knows what next. I find myself angry at the way she was let go from her job, at our manager's reaction to it all, and I wonder how you guys feel about the nurse diversion program? Am I blinded by my friend's issue? Or does this program need a serious overhaul? God Bless you all who take this on day by day, and know that you have my support and admiration.:balloons:

Hello - Glad you came to this thread! I will keep your friend in my prayers.

I am sorry to hear about her relapse. Keep on being such a good friend to her, she will need you, and some people aren't as understanding, like they think they can "catch it" by talking to them or something! Bless you! In my 7 years of sobriety, I lost old friends because of it, but thank God gained some great new ones, including my hubbie who is also an RN also in recoovery!!

:heartbeat

Anne, RNC

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