nurse.etc

No outpatient dialysis experience, but I had many years of critical care. During my time there I was CRRT certified. So yes and no? Fresenius will hire new grads even, but from what I've seen, that's only when theyve worked as a dialysis technician before graduating. Most dialysis positions want you to have previous dialysis experience OR critical care experience.

also, and I've been saying this for awhile now, the addicted professional needs to be covered in nursing school. we need to know that these programs exist and how we can enter them before we are "caught" or end up dead. I know in school I was taught that if you have an addiction you will loose your license faster than you can blink. talk about a great way to teach young nurses to hide their mental health away to fester. addiction in nurses is a serious problem and an occupational hazard all of us need to be aware of so we can be prepared to handle it if it comes creeping up some day. never in my life would I guess this would be my life, yet here I am fighting to keep my dignity. it should be a board REQUIREMENT that you take a course in stress management, self care for the medical professional, and be given information on what to do if you find yourself in a situation like most of us have.

I think it's fair that the board takes action when a nurse has an issue. I'm thankful that recovery programs are offered so that we can salvage our careers while we rebuild our lives. I do, however, think its rediculous that double jeopardy doesnt exist in our world and that each board can punish you as they see fit even if the actions didnt happen in that state. I own my mistakes, but I dont see how my expired license in another states BON needs to bully me into a second peer recovery program or face disciplinary action there as well. sure if I was to renew and try to practice there, but its not my home state and it's been expired for years, yet now they decide they want to take action. its cruel and completely against the legal system, but hey they're the boards, not the law.

depends a lot on what state you are in. if its positive, then yes some sort of professional recovery program will be involved to keep your license. also depends on your employer, some have zero tolerance others will allow you to take leave while you get enrolled and cleared to work again. HOWEVER, a one time use of weed usually doesnt show up in hair. thc stays in your body fat for a long time that's why it shows in urine for so long but it doesnt absorb in hair very much. an occasional users will >>usually<< test negative in hair. try not to freak until you get the results. most people in my state who get caught with thc in their system, as long as they werent accused of being impaired at work, it's a quick 6 month monitoring contract and maybe some therapy/12 steps. and only get the full rehab trek (inpatient/outpatient + aftercare) when you are a chronic abuser or have co-addictions.

in indiana, last year I had an "abnormal" urine. when I gave the sample it was very light. I had a awful migraine that day I know I had drank more water than normal and took an excedrin (totally "legal" as far as IPRP goes but caffeine is a diuretic and should be avoided before a test). my casework was out of office at the time, so I selected my self for a "self test" the same day I got that result. I wasnt hiding anything and I was hoping to show that. i messaged my caseworker telling them how I saw the results and selected a self test and a few days later she got back to me. I was told by my caseworker that dilutes are labeled as abnormal and given information on preventing a dilute. i got a warning about how 3 dilutes and your out. the other test came back negative but it wasnt mentioned by my caseworker. that it was the end of it. did you have soy sauce or one of the other warned substances? false positives do happen, but if you relapsed then you need to at least be honest with yourself. iprp will call you to interview you and see if they can get you to admit taking something. if you deny it, they kick your sample to the medical reviewer person so see if they can determine if it was a true positive or if something else could have caused it. read the IPRP handbook, it talks about all that and is where I am getting my information.

I was a travel travel nurse before i got help. i was in my home state practicing when it all went down though. i am enrolled in my home states peer program. now that my other licensed states have heard the news they're coming after those licenses now. hoping they will accept my home states program and I can retain them, but I will warn you that of you surrender a license during an investigation you'll be reported to the OIG and they'll likely ban you from working for anywhere that accepts Medicare Medicaid (so almost anywhere other than plastic surgery and private pay assisted living). best advice is to A.) get a lawer and B.) try to see if they'll accept your home states peer program in place of there own.

Indiana will still conduct the investigation and discipline your license with what they find, active or expired. If your Indiana License gets suspended or revoked, it will carry over to any other license you have as well. HOWEVER, Indiana has a professional recovery program called IPRP that is designed to help with your addiction and allow you to continue practicing and keep your license. If you dont enter this program, your license will be suspended or revoked if they find evidence against you. The positive drug test is all the evidence they need. Not to add more stress to you, but Indiana is likely to press criminal charges as well. The state is attempting to "take a stand" and have been prosecuting every nurse who diverts in criminal court as well at with the BON and OIG. Please take care and seek help if you need it before you try to take another nursing job. The best thing you can do for your license is to call IRPR and get enrolled.

for indiana its listed as a "no-no" on the guide we get. whether or not they test for it, idk. but I do know about people getting in trouble for testing positive for benadryl while in the program. so I would stay away. if you are truly an addicted, kratom could sent you right back down that slippery slope.

Brace yourself for a poop storm. Its going to get worse before it gets better. BUT IT WILL GET BETTER. Depending on what state you are in, there are peer programs for health professionals. It probably wont save you from the fallout of being caught committing diversion (criminal charges, license issues, public discipline, work restricitions), but it will likely allow you to keep your license to practice. Depending on who you ask on this forum, they can be brutal and unhelpful, but a peer program gives you a second chance to be a health professional. I, for one, am extremely grateful for it. I did receive criminal charges for my diversion and honestly I believe I deserved to. I abused my authority to steal medications for personal use. No my patients did go without either, but it's still theft, it's still drugs, and it's still wrong. I also have restricitions and public discipline, dispite having self reported. In my state, I've been told diversion is always public. BUT I STILL HAVE MY LICENSE and I just recently got a great nursing position. Stop beating yourself up. You messed up but you arent broken. Addiction makes us do stupid things... it doesnt make us bad people. Learn from this and grow. Focus on your recovery and sobriety. Dont worry about what everyone else is thinking. I still feel like everyone is looking at me and knows when I am in public. Maybe they do, or maybe it's all in my head. Either way, you cant change what happened, all you can do now is do better moving forward. People who want to judge others need to take a look in their own closet. Everyone has dirty secrets. We just have the blessing of ours getting displayed to the public. The best advice I can give to you right now is to not make any big decisions while you are upset. ie) Dont surrender your license and walk away while all this is so fresh (if you dont have to). Take the monitoring program if its offered as an alternative. If you change your mind later then that's different, but I know most of us on this forum wanted to just give it all up and walk away when we were first caught. You might regret that in a couple months when your emotions and mind comes back to normal. Try to find a nurse support meeting in your area and see what others stories are like. I know it feels like your life has just exploded in front of you, but moving forward in sobriety will help you see this all as a positive. I was so lost in my struggle that I didnt see I was slowly killing myself. The shock of getting "caught" literally scared me straight and I am so thankful for it. I got the help I needed and am so much better as a person and as a nurse now. Stay sober and be your own advocate. The best thing you can do is fix yourself right now. Let this event propel you into a healthy life with healthy coping mechanisms. The rest will follow.

So I JUST started a new job. I am in the second week of my training and I just received the letter from the BON containing my formal complaint. I've been in monitoring for a year now and I knew this was coming because I had already gotten the "we are investigating you" letter from the AG. My question is how do I handle this with my employer. They know about my criminal charge and know I self reported to IPRP and the board. But when they hired me my license was still "mark free". Once I receive the actual judgement or settlement I know they will need to sign it and everything but what should I do in the mean time? Do I tell them it was filed? I am so new that I worry they will fire me for it. Do i wait for the final order and then tell them? I've always kept to the idea that being honest and upfront is the best policy in my situation, but it keeps getting me in more trouble. Yet at the same time I dont want them to come across it themselves and fire me for not telling them. Any one have anything similar to go off of?

I do not at all miss mine. I tried very hard to destroy my life with mine and now that I am on the other side of it all, I hate my DOC with a burning passion. It took me to lows I never thought I would see all the while convincing me it was better down there. When I think back to how I felt in the darkest days of my addiction, I get sick to my stomach. All of the hurt. humulation and reject I've received after seeking help is like a warm summer's breeze compared to the monster that was my DOC. I do not for one minute miss the scared, sneaky, and terrible person I was when I was on it. All the time spent back up against a dark corner feeling like there was no way out. For me it started as self medicating for depression/ anxiety in which i was extremely ineffective in treating as I soon would rather just stop breathing than to go on. Not for one second do I ever miss that. From the other side of it, life is still a struggle yes, but I am putting in the good fight. And I would NEVER go back. That all being said, the lizard brain part of me does still miss that wonderful chemical reaction that takes place. The driving force of addiction that continues to torture us beyond the rehabs and meetings. The looming thoughts of "just one more time" when things get tough in life. But as a human with a human brain, we can stomp out the lizard pieces and remind ourselves it's all a illusion. That the DOC will always try to convince us that it's our friend when its holding a knife to our throat. Sobriety is a choice we must make every day, not just while we need to check into affinity. Sure a relapse in the program can ruin our professional life and hurt our wallets a bit, but a relapse can be a formal invitation for our DOC to set up camp in our lives again. Fear of losing a career is scary, but the fear of losing my life back to my DOC is hell.

good luck to you! dont give up. I was denied by multiple nursing homes, LTACs and assisted living facilities due to my misdemeanor. it was very upsetting but this position is so much better than anything I could've hoped for. brutal honesty and showing true remorse and subsequent redemption for the mistakes I made was always the best policy for getting a chance.

have you been given log in information on it? if so go to the website affinity spectrum and start your account. if not, contact you case worker and see what you should do

for anyone who is struggling to find work, I've been successful in landing a job with fresenius. They were totally okay with the peer program (as I expected because diaylsis is generally recovery friendly). My worry was HR accepting my misdemeanor. I was honest through the whole process and when my background check was flagged I was given the chance to tell my side of the story. My story reads decently on paper despite the fact that I was popped for diversion. Each case is taken individually and I was permitted to join the team. I wanted to share this for anyone struggling. I've been denied so many times i was close to giving up searching. I find most managers are okay with the program but HR stops it when they see criminal charges. Fresenius allowed me to explain my situation and I am very grateful.

IPRP took about a month and they sent me mine through affinity and never told me (I hadn't logged in to affinity at that point yet) . So a couple weeks after they sent it I got a call saying if I didn't get it back signed by the end of the week I would be help in noncompliance and my case would be closed.

I wonder that myself. I like to think they dont plan it, but I got tested more times in the month I finally got my criminal charges and got fired than I did the whole year combined. It was 10 months after going into the agreement. Plus then again on the exact date of my one year sobriety. I definitely feel like they're trying to "catch me" slipping, but it doesnt truly matter because I am straight. Perhaps its just our brains making imaginary connections because the layer of paranoia the program adds to our lives. I am happy and glad to be sober though so test away program.

Wondering if anyone has any information on if fresenius dialysis will hire me with a recent misdemeanor conviction on my record. Yes its recovery friendly, but will the criminal parts keep me from landing the job? I'm have completed my second interview, disclosed the recovery program and my past. The worry is that my conviction resulted in a misdemeanor "obtaining a controlled substance by fraud or decite". I've been repeatedly had offers rescinded after my background check reveals this. Anyone have any incite?

I am in Indiana. I never received a board notice to cess practice or anything in the way of a suspension of my license. That being said, I wasnt allowed to practice by my states program (IPRP) until I was cleared by my therapist. I dont know of all states do it this way or not.

Seems like i may have another thing for me to look forward to, as I have the same worded charge as you. Please keep us updated what the outcome is.

I think a lot of us had the same thoughts shortly after we got pegged. I myself looked into just surrendering my license and moving on, but am glad I waited. I am now very glad I didnt do that as it closes more doors than just nursing. depending on the state you are in, there are "alternative to discipline" programs you can enroll into. typically, if you do it before the board forces you into it, the ramifications are less. Just know that even if you surrender the license, the investigation into will still continue. Also, surrending a nursing license means that you surrender your ability to get any other kind of professional license - engineering, cosmetology, dental hygienist, etc. Through my struggles, I too have realized I dont want to continue my nursing career but I am in my state program so that I can keep my license. To me it is worth it. To some, it may not be. The OIG list , as mentioned, is another issue with surrendering. Surrendered is generally the same as revoked in the eyes on the BON and OIG. It is a very personal decision that shouldn't be made so soon after getting caught. Unfortunately criminal charges are getting more and more common for those of us who divert medications. I got mine nearly a year after my incident. Also, depending on who the procescutor is, a drug court/ diversion agreement isnt often given anymore. The attorney general prosecuted my case and she refused to go any less than a misdemeanor with formal probation. I too was a travel nurse, but was "caught" in the permanent position I took after deciding to stop traveling. So, with that, all of the other state licenses I got when I traveled are also investigating me. Extra stress, but still I choose to keep my license at all costs. I am now on criminal probation and my license is still clean and active, but I cannot find a job for the life of me. Nursing or not. Yet, having my nursing license still gives me the chance to at least try to find jobs in the field. From what I have been told, the final board hearing will wait for the criminal charges to finish becuase anything you say at the board hearing can be used in the criminal case. So they might give you an emergency temporary suspension until after criminal matters are resolved, if you arent in the states recovery program. If you want to keep your license, the best thing you can do for that is to look on your states BON website and see how to contact the recovery program. If you dont want to deal with that headache, the board will eventually suspend or possibly revoke your license. Every state is different, and every board runs at a different pace, but from what I've seen that's what happens. Congrats on your 2 months of sobriety. I completely understand the stress that lay with travel nursing.

I think this type of post is what makes these forums so important. Hearing that you arent alone in those thoughts is critical to not blaming yourself or thinking you're broken. Addiction has no cure, it is life long, but we can return as normal functioning humans as we stick with our recovery. The structure and looming random test of the program keeps us accountable, but what happens once that's over? When you no longer have someone else telling you no. You can ignore that "just try it once, itll be fine" voice in your head. As you have done with this post, you have to acknowledge it and let it be known so that you can move past it. We go to meetings and find support in others because we cannot always do that alone. I kept my issues hidden from my significant other until I was completely broken by them. Once I opened up and told them everything, I felt such relief. Hiding those fears from your wife can fester and lead into hiding actions fro. her as well. It might be helpful to share what you're worrying about and work on it together. Also, no job is worth your sobriety. If you feel as though those thoughts are getting close to action, finding a position that removes narcotics from the everyday workplace might be the best decision you could do for yourself. I wish I would've taken my own advice on that years ago. You are so strong for having gone through your program and regained your life. Don't let those dark thoughts take away from that. Thoughts and feelings only have the power that you give them. Best wishes to you.

I worked as a "nurse care manager". The position was at mental health facility for OP mental health clients. I was basically functioning as a mental health case manager with more medical knowledge finesse. Core duties including coordination with doctors, making appointments and then accompanying them to the appointments, teaching, preventive health care, and ensuring the clients compliance. My client load primarily consisted of high functioning mentally challenged people who had multiple comorbidities, but I also had some that struggled with depression, PTSD, and anxiety that prevented them from being able to manage their healthcare needs. It was very rewarding, recovery friendly work. It's a newer way of treatment (integrated care), but a lot of mental health facilities are beginning to do it because insurance companies are paying well for it. Keeps people out of the hospital because their unable to manage their DM or take appropriate preventative healthcare measures. I did not have case management experiance, but I had hospital experience and that was what they wanted in that role.

from what I understand, being on the OIG guarantees you a place in the NPDB but the inverse does not always apply. the OIG related to Medicaid/Medicare fraud and signifies that you can not participate in those programs. the NPDB includes people who have messed up in some fashion and have it on record as a red flag. you can get of the NPDB for things like malpractice , professional competence, HIPAA violation, or fraud. you certainly could end up on the oig list, but npdb doesnt mean it's for sure..

Call your states BON or look online at there website. A professional license lawyer would also have that information. If you want to post your state, I am sure this community would be willing to share any information they have. Just keep in mind that it is a public forum and anyone can see it. As far as having you on camera... we cant really give law advice here, but the more you willingly give them as evidence, the easier the case becomes. Both my license lawyer and my criminal lawyer told me not to admit to anything. Just acknowledge that you received the complaint and show up of you are called in front of the board. I did tell them that I had enrolled in my states recovery program. Others on this board have given a written play by play of what they did and ended up arrested and facing license discipline. It doesn't usually end up better by confessing to the investigators. But again, just my opinion, not giving legal advice.

First off, welcome. You've come to the right place and it is so great that you've taken steps towards recovery. A lawyer who specializes in your states professional license defense is a great help, if you can afford it. If you are in a state that offers a monitoring program, enrolling voluntary generally looks better than if you wait until you are forced to by the board. You might not be able to keep your license unmarked at this point, but getting put with probation (verses suspension/revoked) is more likely if you enter your states program. As far as responding to letters keep this in mind... anything you write can (and often is) sent to people that will strap you with felony charges of possession/theft/falsifying records/ etc.. You have the right to remain silent and to not self incriminate. Use that. Dont hand them the golden ticket of your guilt, because if you think pouring your heart out to the board will help them find sympathy, you're mistaken. They're goal is to protect the public. The best thing you can do to show them you also want to keep the public safe is to enter their recovery program and work the steps. Expect the next few years to be endless hoops to jump through, drug screens, meetings, and reports. You'll likely have to go in front of board or at least meet with a representative and find a resolution to the issue, but that's a future battle. The boards are slowwwww. Worry about staying sober and getting into a monitoring program ASAP.