Need some information about ipn in florida

Pupper268 · Sep 24, 2010

Rayanne, It sounds as though you have not received you IPN contract yet. I have a few questions for you which may generate some more responses by others here interested in providing you with helpful information.What county are you in? Was the letter you received from IPN or the BON? You will need to have an evaluation by an IPN approved addictionologist. Ask IPN to provide you with the names of several ones near you. Call each one to see how soon you can get in , and how much the eval will cost ($500-650). Check to see if you health insurance will pay for any of it. You may also need a physical from your family Dr. in order to get a back to work slip saying you are physically OK to return to work. It doesn't mean you have to spill you guts to your family doc about WHY you are off from work.IPN may require to get 6-9 hours of "educational treatment" with an IPN approved provider. That will cost you $200-500 depending on where you go (your contract will state if you have to do this one or not).Again, call several places to see when you can get in and how much it will cost. Some places will do the education in one day, some places do it over 2 days, some stretch it over a week. If you can't find a place close to you that offers it, you may have to stay in a hotel close to where the class is until you get it done. Start saving you money because it will probably be 3-4 months before IPN gets all of their stuff together and then allows you to return to work. IPN places alot of weight on the addictionologist's eval in determining the length of your contract- which could be as little as 2 years or as much as 5 years. Random urine screens will cost $42 each, and you will have them as often as one a week but at least once a month. These can only be done at a Labcorp facility, so check to see where the closest one is to where you live. Plan on attending a weekly nurse support group in your area ($10-20/week) and a weekly AAor NA meeting (these are free). DO NOT miss a urine drug screen! Sometimes you can miss a nurse support group meeting if you have a good reason, but you still have to contact the nurse group facilitator for approval first. Take your contract very seriously, read it all through very carefully, and follow it to the letter. I cannot stress this enough. You will be assigned an IPN case manager and you can call her for any questions or clarifications while you are in IPN. You need to know that this is going to be a very expensive process, and due to the stipulations of your IPN contract and the fact that most employers cringe when they hear the word "IPN", it is probably going to be difficult finding a job. You will have to divulge to any prospective employer that you are in IPN, IPN requires this. You don't necessarily have to share this during the job interview itself, but you will have to do so if a job offer is made. Most IPN contracts also stipulate that you must work under the direct supervision of another RN, that means that their must be one RN on duty when you are that knows you are in IPN and can assist you when needed. It doesn't mean that you have to tell everyone there that you are in IPN, the less people that need to know, the better. The BON will probably not get involved in any of this, since you are already in IPN, but if they should--do not talk to the Board Investigator, under any circumstances, not even on the phone. Get yourself a nurse attorney instead ASAP, and let them do your talking for you. I hope that you have a spouse's income to fall back on while you are going thru this. I know all of this is scary right now, but you will get thru it!