Narcotic abuse suspected

chevyv, BSN, RN · Dec 31, 2021

I would think that they would escort you pronto to have a UDS done...

kbrn2002, ADN, RN · Jan 5, 2022

They won't report a suspicion because without any sort of proof it is just that, a suspicion.

The more likely procedure is pulling the employee off the floor and away from any kind of patient care and administering a drug test. Some facilities have the drug testing kits on site, some will send the employee suspected of using on the job to an outside lab for testing. It is of course within the employee's rights to refuse that test but the consequence of a refusal is usually immediate termination.

Of course if the employee knows they are going to test positive they very well might refuse the test and accept being fired over the probability of the state's likely punishment. But the very act of refusing also gives the employer cause to report the suspected drug use as such refusal can be seen as an admission of guilt. So either way the state is likely to get involved.

As to how long this takes, depends on the state and how busy/backed up they are with complaint investigations. I used to work with a nurse that had been with my company for several months when she was pulled off the floor and terminated after the state suspended her license. Turns out she had been caught using drugs at her previous job and was fired on the spot. Since my state does not make active investigations public knowledge she was able to get another job and keep working until the state investigation was completed and resulted in license suspension making it impossible at that point for her to continue working. As I said she had worked with us for several months so that wasn't a fast process by any means. I'm not sure how my employer even found out that her license was suspended. I can only assume since this nurse was employed there the state informed them of the suspension.