Nurse-JP

Anybody who knows about my situation thought about the same thing. Being held to a higher standard sucks. There really should be a better way. I asked for help and was honest about it and it came to bite me in the ass. To any nurse out there who want to get help for their addiction, the best way that I can think of is DON'T TELL THEM YOU'RE A NURSE! If your PCP already knows you're an RN, go to a different MD to have your addiction treated; pay cash if you have to if your insurance doesn't cover it. I would not wish what I'm went through and going through to anybody. I like being clean these days, but I sure questioned whether the price I paid for sobriety was worth it so many times in the beginning.

Thanks for the responses. A part of me actually WANTS him to be right so I can completely move on. I just feel like until I definitively know the answer, it will always be a sticking point in my recovery.

I am an RN and got addicted to opiates. I was taking the opiates from the sharps container in the nurses station. I was using opiates for a little more than a year and I got sick and tired of it because I went into depression and thought about suicide frequently. I finally got the courage to go to my primary care physician to ask for help and advice and disclosed my addiction. He referred me to a drug detox facility in town. I got checked in the very next day. After I got discharged, I enrolled in their Intensive Outpatient Program and planned on starting to go to Narcotics Anonymous. I had a follow up appointment with my primary care physician again and in that visit, he told me that I have to report my addiction to the State Board and surrender my license, or he will do it himself. Feeling cornered, I did go to the board myself hoping that I can be enrolled in the Board's chemical dependency monitoring program. I have surrendered my license and working towards getting it back. Did my primary care physician have the right to use the information I told him as a patient and use it to give me an ultimatum to surrender my license to the Board?

Hi All! Reading matters about Australia has me wanting to migrate as a nurse. I'm a US trained nurse and have OZ on my mind. Can anyone suggest great hospitals in City's such as Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. Comments much appreciated!