dirtyhippiegirl BSN, RN

Crazy to think in December of 2014, I was despondent enough to inject an entire Novolog pen into myself in an attempt to end the cycle of depression and drinking I was in. I have a pretty good life these days. It's far from perfect, of course. I appl...

They have done studies and you really have to basically be hot-boxing for it to show up in your pee. However, second hand smoke can be detected in hair testing which occasionally happens with these programs. I was also super paranoid and never did a...

Partial versus IOP is about hours in the program. IOP is usually a few hours a day, usually not every day of the week. Partial hospitalization is going to be all-day (I think anything over 6 or 7 hours but you don't sleep there is considered partial)...

Missouri doesn't offer a confidential monitoring program. Everything is public and through the BON -- you will deal directly with them.

Your blanket statement isn't true for everyone though. Many states do not have confidential programs or the confidential programs are really hard to access. I've seen nurses lose licenses over nuances in the monitoring contract or mistakes in UA test...

There was definitely an unnecessary cruelty to some of the BON and monitoring program employees that went beyond protecting the public. I was reported to the BON for a relapse while under monitoring -- I had just gotten out of treatment round #1 and ...

In a different state so I have no clue about the specifics of how you should address this but I had a false positive for PCP while taking lamictal in a drug screen through my IOP. I was in the program for ETOHism. I was treated like *** by the nurse ...

I have been out of KNAP for 2 years now but when I was in monitoring, I didn't know anyone in a HCA hospital. KU was KNAP-friendly (as long as you didn't get busted by them); I also knew nurses at the VA in Leavenworth, at CMH (south), and someone at...

This was allowed in my state's program. People volunteered off their work requirement at the Red Cross and in the infirmary at the local large homeless shelter. Idk about volunteering to work as a nurse in a traditionally paid job like a SNF. It seem...

Ahh I feel like nobody straight out said it? A prior addiction history in itself, even with a few years of sobriety, is often a one-way ticket to monitoring program town. If you admitted to being addicted/abusing your pills in what you disclosed to t...

I was allowed to return to work after about a week into IOP. I had done 4 weeks inpatient first, plus 2 on general psych before that lol. My state allows for a return to work as soon as the treatment providers think it's okay however you still have t...

I'd be worried that if you marked "no" at this point, they may find out somehow via the BON somehow. I had the same thing re my program -- no formal hearing or reprimand but I did get have case number that stayed open until I completed monitoring. Af...

Do you have an open case with the BON? That would be how the other states would know about your treatment...

I graduated during the recession and back then it wasn't uncommon for it to take ~6 mos after licensing to land a job as a new grad. You've only been a RN for like six weeks so I wouldn't start panicking yet. I picked up a pediatric private duty job ...

I have been out of monitoring for 16 months. I go to the occ AA meeting, like once or twice a month, mostly to catch up with friends and/or to remind myself of how awful early sobriety and active alcoholism is. We have Buddhist and Atheist AA here to...

Ah, the certainty of inexperience. I almost miss that phase of my addiction.

Ketosis and diabetic ketoacidosis are two different processes, thankfully! Ketosis only produces ketones in your urine and will not give a false positive. There are also members on here that can back that up personally. DKA also spills glucose into y...

Does your lawyer have any experience with the BON?! I feel like you probably got bad advice for your money...I can't imagine a scenario where you won't have to submit to some kind of monitoring with a recent drug problem and also apparently a past dr...

Reddit?

I posted on FB while I was in monitoring. I post more now because it's easier to take trips and I mostly post trip pics. Or pet pics. I've even rekindled a friendship with a coworker who was on the unit when I got busted for drinking. We hang out qui...

You'll probably be eligible for a stipulated license and whatever monitoring program CA offers. I think sometimes the CA BON will initially deny licensure but you can appeal stating that you'll agree to their 5 year monitoring contract and stipulatio...

Bup is one of the more common false positives. Off the top of my head, Wellbutrin, Zanaflex, and atenolol can also all cause false positives. Not sure what OTCs you're on but many of those can also cause false positives. Hopefully they did a split sp...

There are AA meetings for Atheists and also secular-Buddhist AA meetings. Try Googling We Agnostics, Secular AA, Buddhist Recovery Network. Might be easier than getting your program to accept something totally new like SMART.

I have a long history of mental illness and psych hospitalizations etc. I would say that as a patient, the most meaningful interactions I have had with the nurses caring for me came from (limited) self-disclosure on their part. It provided a sort of ...

Congrats! You realize you are posting in a forum for nurses with addiction, right? But thanks for coming in and educating us on how addiction works. Maybe you should take your patronizing lectures on the AA circuit.