Jillybean0381

Thank you all! It's crazy that the world is WELL aware that healthcare professionals are practically poster children for addiction issues, yet we have to be so on guard when revealing this about ourselves, b/c of the imminent backlash from other nurses. I'm not bitter :) I do feel like I need to make amends with every nurse afflicted with addiction, b/c before my troubles, I was SO JUDGMENTAL towards nurses that got into this kind of trouble. I never had a right to judge anyone, in the first place.

Hello All, I am embarking on the beginning of TPAPN, and as many of you have said, it is a lonely, lonely place. My incident happened in November of 2013, and I am finally getting to move forward with TPAPN, and all of the other joyous obligations required of me. I have been attending AA since November, and have an amazing home group that is full of addicts and alcoholics, alike. I have wonderful support, but I'm lacking that peer support we can only get from other nurses like ourselves. Addiction alone is so stigmatized, and adding 'RN' forces us to take the anonymity to an entirely different level. I would love to meet with someone, face to face, that is in any stage of recovery. I feel like I'm on an island, which is one of the few reasons I've been looking forward to beginning TPAPN. We need more support for nurses! It angers me when the only place I can find others like myself is online. But, I am SO GRATEFUL for this forum!