PNAP no legal charges

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I’m an NP student almost done with my program. I voluntarily entered rehab but have no legal charges on my record. I’m being pressured to do PNAP but am horrified by the stories I’ve read about the program and how it will impact my APN licensure and work. If an attorney is necessary could someone suggest a good one? I in no way risked my license or patient care. Thanks.

Specializes in Justice ⚖️ Nursing.

I wasn't replying to you. 

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Specializes in Emergency Nursing.

I am not familiar with PA's program, but I do know the IPN in Florida. You have a choice to enter into a contract- that is not negotiable and is 3-5 years of meetings and calling a number every morning to see if you are required to be tested- or being reported to the Board of Nursing who will suspend your license until you go through the IPN or revoke it. I don't see this as a real choice, and I wish there were other alternatives such as Ketamine therapy with your own licensed psychiatrist and therapy with your own therapist. Or deep brain stimulation, transcranial  stimulation, etc. Being in a 5 year program is soul crushing to some and life/ career saving for others.  I'm glad the program you're in doesn't degrade you. Thank you for sharing this- I have more hope for alternative programs and tend to get tunnel vision on the negative. 

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Specializes in Justice ⚖️ Nursing.
debkj said:

I am not familiar with PA's program, but I do know the IPN in Florida. You have a choice to enter into a contract- that is not negotiable and is 3-5 years of meetings and calling a number every morning to see if you are required to be tested- or being reported to the Board of Nursing who will suspend your license until you go through the IPN or revoke it. I don't see this as a real choice, and I wish there were other alternatives such as Ketamine therapy with your own licensed psychiatrist and therapy with your own therapist. Or deep brain stimulation, transcranial  stimulation, etc. Being in a 5 year program is soul crushing to some and life/ career saving for others.  I'm glad the program you're in doesn't degrade you. Thank you for sharing this- I have more hope for alternative programs and tend to get tunnel vision on the negative. 

When I did it, it was the same in PA. I was told the phmp was for MDs. They don't tell you much of anything about it until you sign into it. A quick online search of PAs program tells you more about it , from a lawyers perspective. Things have changed so much, for the better, for people with substance use disorder and pnap is still living in the past. 

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Specializes in Hospice.

I'm glad that this topic was introduced. There are certainly strong opinions on this. Uses of labelling and stigmatizing language, quoting "facts" without sources, feeling victimized. My personal experience is that there is no one way that fits everyone. Trying to make a process uniform when so many different people with different psychosocial stressors are going through this seems unhelpful. So many nurses are suffering, particularly after Covid. How does being harsh and judgmental help anything? How many nurses spend the bulk of their time on their phones? Shouldn't process addictions also cause safety concerns? What about caffeine and sugar? Of course we need to keep patients safe, but does pushing nurses to the brink of mental  breakdown and PTSD keep anyone safe? Does calling a prescribed medication a "fix" persuade someone of anything else you have to say? Prescribers, pharmaceutical corporations, hospital administrators all influence our society and our practice. Nurses need the same compassion we are expected to give our patients. I'm sure there are wonderful people in PNAP and PHMP, and I'm sure there are people who have no business working in that area. There should be an expectation of treating each individual with dignity and respect. This does not mean there shouldn't be a process for helping, but punishing yields very little and breeds resentment. I  will continue to watch the comments on this because it's important and I appreciate ALL of you who took the time to respond, whether I agree with you or not.

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Folks, nobody should be "calling in" everyday in the year of 2023.  The overwhelming majority of states now have an App on your phone where you simply click the button each morning and it instantly tells you if you have been selected to test or not.  When you click the button, this is your check in, and you then test if you have been selected or not selected.  The State's Monitoring Program and or Board (whichever runs it-it doesn't matter which one) will have a contracted Drug Monitoring Test Provider such as RecoveryTrek or Affinity (two of the most common).  Both of them have apps on your phone where you simply do it like muscle memory when you kill your morning alarm.  You hit one button on your phone, and instantly you have just checked in for the day and if everything is lit up in green, you don't pee that day.  If it's red, you pee that day.  It literally takes 3 to 4 seconds daily to check in.  It's not that tough folks.  It becomes like muscle memory and you do it when you turn your alarm off.  Takes less than 5 seconds to check in.

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A quick search will give you information about the program. Some of it is misinformation. I was and still am a bulldog when it comes to getting answers from PNAP and the PHMP and even BON counsel a couple of times. I think a piece that tends to trip people up and scare people away from consulting PNAP is the relationship between PNAP and the PHMP/BON. Some of the "lawyer's perspective" information seems very unclear about that...and one lawyer in particular, seems a little unhinged.  His angry tirade blogs may get people fired up and scared enough to pay him money, but don't help clear anything up. To me, HE is the one trying to take advantage of people for money. I am so thankful I did not hire him. I know three people he gave bad advice to that ended with them being monitored anyway, but with discipline on their licenses. Because we have most of our communication with PNAP, some of us (myself included at first) think that PNAP is making the rules. But, we signed a BIG 20+ page contract outlining what monitoring is with the BON, not PNAP. It is my understanding that PNAP is just responsible for monitoring your compliance with that. I don't doubt that some of the case managers try to flex at times like they do have power. Maybe those case managers are in the wrong field. I have heard of some having a bad experience, maybe they can request a new case manager, I don't know. If it were me, I'd find out! I have not experienced that though so I guess I'm lucky. Amy and Joann have been truly amazing.

I don't have an opinion on medication treatment. I have not used it but understand it helps many. The comment that PNAP is living in the past will have me calling my case manager, though, and getting more information. Should they change to accomodate MAT? Can they? What prevents them? All questions worth asking if you want to understand. 

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