Petition to Governor to stop HPRP abuses

JoseQuinones · May 7, 2015

Once again proving that the solution to every problem is not to rush a new law onto the books. Unintended consequences can be costly. I gladly signed your petition.

carollucas1776 · May 7, 2015

Below is the link for the petition.

https://www.change.org/p/rick-snyder-director-michigan-licensing-and-regulatory-affairs-michigan-attorney-general-bill-schutte-ask-governer-snyder-to-stop-hprp-and-lara-s-mistreatment-of-michigan-health-professionals?recruiter=291357577&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=share_email_responsive

brayrn · May 10, 2015

The above link is how we get our voices heard. Even if you did mess up; punishment, humiliation, criminalization and destruction of your career is not the answer. Consider signing the petition.

eknurse1 · Oct 28, 2015

Can I please have an update on how this is going? I would like to start a petition in NJ for the RAMP program because everything you stated above is completely correct for RAMP as well. They force people to enter the program, there is no rhyme or reason to which nurses get 1 year, 2 years or 5 years in the program and they do not adhere to the recommendations of the Addiction Specialist that they send us to that we pay 450$ cash to see. Could you please give me some information about how to start a petition like this and how it is going for you? Thank you!

SororAKS, ADN, RN · Oct 28, 2015

Bravo. I'm going to watch this with interest because of the implications for the monitoring program in my state and others as well. I have seen statements in the Board Minutes of states that nurses have been getting admitted "informally" and that the monitoring program should be watchful of that practice. Exactly what "informal" means they don't specify, but it piqued my interest.

carollucas1776 · Oct 29, 2015

Progress bas been slow and, far as I know, our governor has done nothing to stop the abuse of power by the Bureau of Healthcare Services. The lawsuit is currently awaiting trial in Federal court for, among other things, multiple constitutional violations. So, myself and the other 3 plaintiffs are still awaiting justice. License remains suspended despite the order by state judge to un-suspend it as well as the recommendations of the state's own evaluators that I do not require any substance abuse monitoring. This witch hunt has cost me personally almost everything, however, I've no intention of quitting the battle. Wish you luck in yours. You can start a petition by going to change.org. if you go to my attorney's website listed on our petition, the entire complaint can be viewed and may help you in outlining your petition and determining your next step. I am so very sorry you are going through this and hope our efforts will one day protect other nurses from undergoing such trauma. God bless.

SororAKS, ADN, RN · Oct 30, 2015

I am quite impressed with the law firm you all chose. I'll be watching this with great interest, as I too am in monitoring. I've seen and heard of many, many abuses of these types of programs and by licensing agencies/BON. Somebody needed to hold a hand up and say ENOUGH.

carollucas1776 · Nov 1, 2015

Wanted to make sure you saw my answer to your post. Again, sorry you are going through the nightmare. Stay strong. Contact me anytime. [email protected].

CryssyD · Nov 3, 2015

This is an issue I am personally involved in, as a former participant in one of these programs, so I won't pretend to be objective in making statements about how the program worked. But I have some trouble sorting out how exactly to make these programs better. While I agree that much of what I had to go through was punitive rather than therapeutic, humiliating, and in no way personalized to fit me as an individual rather than one of a pre-defined group known as "addicts," I don't know how these programs can treat people who do have problems needing serious intervention without occasionally punishing those who don't. Human endeavors are by nature imperfect, as they are invariably subject to the flaws of their human actors.

Don't get me wrong here--I'm totally in agreement that these programs tend to overstep their bounds, are punitive and apparently incapable of distinguishing the difference between dangerous addiction and human mistakes/momentary indiscretions, and have a disturbing tendency to destroy personal, financial, and professional lives. But I think that nurses, as part of a profession that emphasizes reliance on evidence rather than personal experience or public opinion, should be pushing for reform rather than redress, and asking how to make the system better rather than simply pointing up how bad it is.

One article I read (following a link found in one of AN's threads) stated that about 1/3 (34%) of nurses starting the program in my state were able to complete it successfully; the author stated that number was obtained using the state's own data, so I will guess that it is probably accurate. I certainly don't find it hard to believe. The MD who did my evaluation for the program basically stated that, while she couldn't say with certainty that I was an addict that I should be monitored (just in case, I guess): if I relapsed, I was an addict and would need treatment; if I didn't relapse, I wasn't an addict. I don't think she could have straddled that fence any more obviously, but I wound up in 5 years of very expensive monitoring because of it. I was years later told that I might have to have an inpatient evaluation for "pre-relapse behavior (being late making two phone calls to my case manager)"--apparently the wisdom of the involved "professionals" gave them predictive powers that justified intervention (very expensive intervention, at that) before the actual "problem" showed up. Wow.

I got out of the program before my initial completion date, without actually relapsing, so I guess I wasn't really an addict. But I am, though not in the classic sense--drugs/alcohol aren't my main problem (it was my first sponsor who told me that addiction can encompass lots of things: computer role-playing games was her main problem, although drugs did come up at one point; I tend toward a similar problem) but the tendency is there to use substances when I am bored or depressed.

My point is, this program didn't exactly overextend itself trying to find out whether I was really a risk to my patients or profession; I was driving under the influence of (prescribed) muscle relaxants, which definitely showed bad judgment. I did have narcotics that didn't belong to me (a family member gave them to me, to treat the problem I got the muscle relaxants for--again, poor judgment; I knew that wasn't legal. But what did it have to do with being a nurse? How did that impact my job or my patients? I wasn't high on the job. I wasn't stealing pain pills or patches. I did two years' criminal probation for my crimes--I think that was more than adequate. Why did the Board need to be involved at all?

Nurses suffer from a long-time prejudice against nurses-as-women, who must display impeccable behavior on and off the job, or they are perceived as bad actors who must be made example of, lest others also fall. The first non-family "nurses" were often prostitutes, as they were deemed fit to gaze upon the naked bodies of unrelated men; in some cultures, especially Muslim ones, nurses are sometimes still perceived as "bad" women who deserve to be raped and humiliated, because they leave their homes at night and care for men. I think we must address this problem as well; why do nurses have to be "morally" pure to do their jobs? And why is drug use still considered a moral crime at all? Because, believe me, it is. Other nurses land in the program for using marijuana--recreationally, not on the job; they lose their jobs, are subjected to the humiliation of having to tell everyone involved with them (doctor, therapist, anyone thinking about hiring them) that they are addicts and being closely monitored because of it, have to pay for treatment (outpatient, maybe inpatient as well), submit regular reports, and have to submit to years of regular drug-testing (which is expensive, humiliating, and requires constant vigilance over one's diet and everyday activities to prevent accidental ingestion or use of substances that might produce a false positive). The financial costs can be calculated; the professional and emotional ones are impossible to add up.

I will sign this petition, because I believe these programs far too often exceed their mandate, punishing far too many for the genuine misdeeds of the few. They need to be forced to evaluate themselves, for a change. How is it possible that a program designed to help nurses (and other healthcare professionals) who have a genuinely terrible medical/psychiatric problem manages to successfully "graduate" only 34% of them? That is an unequivocal failure--that nurses and others pay to support with their licensing fees. We should demand better. We deserve better. We sacrifice so much to give of ourselves, every single day on the job--we need to insist that nurses be treated with the same care and individual consideration we give unquestioningly to our patients.

I would love to hear any ideas other people have about how to improve these programs...

carollucas1776 · Nov 3, 2015

Well thought out and heartfelt response. I agree wholeheartedly there needs to be help for nurses dealing with these issues. In 2012, the Bureau of Healthcare instated a policy eliminating investigation into allegations of abuse, in part, as a money-saving effort. As a result, many nurses were placed into the monitoring agreement without cause. HPRP ignored their own evaluators recommendations and, though they were not qualified to make healthcare determinations, forced many into program by implementing an across-the-board noncompliance report (regardless of the reason) to the nursing board. The nursing board issued suspensions to these nurses, the majority of which were subsequently overturned by administrative law judges at great expense to the nurse. The board would then proceed to prosecute the nurse for noncompliance and, when the judge determined on the side of the nurse, the board responded by re-suspending the license. The only avenue left the nurse for license to be un-suspended was to sign a document admitting to being a drug/alcohol addict and enter into the multi-year monitoring agreement. My attorney is working with other states, in an attempt to avoid what Michigan has done to these nurses and to keep within the bounds of the constitution, to implement a screening process for potential candidates and a non-punitive treatment process.

Hopefully, Michigan will follow suit.

eknurse1 · Nov 4, 2015

Thank you so much for the update. I am definitely going to be looking into what I can do about starting a petition. I know there are many others in my support group who feel the same way I feel. Do you have any advice on how to get some statistical information about the programs? I saw in this thread about the completion rate was 1/3 of those that entered and I would like to know how I could find out NJ's RAMP statistics. Do I just call my case manager? They seem to be very strict with me and majority of my questions do not get answered even though I send them via email (to have proof) and I ask on the phone as well. Its crazy that they don't even have anyone above them to make a formal complaint to. Since I have been in RAMP since February there has already been 2 tragic events in my group. One woman is now in a federal prison after being charged with child abuse and child Mediaography charges (she was in the program for 2 years, seeing a therapist per RAMP, attending support groups etc., and no one had any idea she had a crazy dark secret until the FBI arrested her) and another member just last week was driving drunk which resulted in a car accident killing a single 33 year old mother. He was released from the program a few weeks ago, just shy of 2 years (released early, even though this was his second time in the program). Then they have people in the program for 5 years for a DUI they had 7 years ago and a clean record since, someone who was accused at work of being on narcotics but she passed a urine test and hair test. They made her go for a nail test and she failed for valium. She paid for her own nail test because she denies ever taking anything and the nail test she had done came back negative but RAMP will not accept her results even though it was done through a RAMP approved site. She got a 5 year term in the program. These are just some of the examples of how RAMP continuously fails. They give harsh sentences to those who do not need it, let child molesters slip through the crack, and release people early from the program who needed long term treatment and end up killing someone. I could go on and on! Any advice on how to fight this would be much appreciated. I am still in the program but do not think I can continue for another 4+ years, its a daily struggle to come to terms with it. I've asked to have a meeting with the director of RAMP and it was denied. I'm at a stand still and don't know how much more I can take.