1sttime

I worked telephone triage when I was on probation- met the monitoring requirements.

75% of Trauma victims positive for marijuana- considering the length of the detection time I can believe that. Trauma victims tend to be of a certain demographic doing certain types of activities- but that does not suggest marijuana as a cause- only a correlation. Nobody is suggesting that people show up to work under the influence of marijuana- Benadryl and Xanax are both detected for more time than a glass of wine, and both give me noticeable hangovers, but I can take those the night before work. I suggest that each person take responsibility for themselves with this plant- much as people are supposed to with alcohol and prescription medication. Asking for peer reviewed studies is disingenuous- people are fully admitting that federally the plant is illegal- meaning there can be no real studies on the plant. Hopefully the people will prevail in this prohibition sham.

Your story sounds familiar to me- I won't go into the details of my struggles through treatment- but what eventually worked for me is yoga, and more specifically hot yoga. I had anhedonia, lethargy, the works. When you are able and medically cleared to look into joining a yoga studio- you get community- much needed exercise- and mindfulness.

Yes- this is a thing- for some people its a comfort measure, to other people its a fetish. There are varying degrees of age regression that can go with this too. As others have said- if the person is capable of taking care of themselves then this is a self care activity. If it is sexual then the patient is crossing a line when it comes to consent by forcing people to participate.

Good advice- as someone who took a sabbatical from Nursing and recently re-entered the profession I was shocked by how things have changed in 3 years. I am also in mid-life, I had always gotten any job I applied for in the past- I found this time around was much more difficult to land an interview- and even then I had difficulty getting a job offer. Behavioral Interviews- good to read a book on how to answer these questions. I was unprepared and made all sorts of mistakes during my first interview. The process feels more academic now, instead of skills based. You also have to find an employer who is the right fit- one hospital system in town is stabilized- they are looking for very specific personality types. Growing hospital systems are more tolerant of different personalities. I was a better fit with the latter. There is also career trajectory- work/life balance to consider. I decided to forgo the management job for something that really connected with me- even though its apparently a "career killer", but it fits in with my plans for my MSN and teaching for the last part of my career. Sure I won't be a Director of Nursing, but at the end of the day I will be happy. My advice is to prepare the resume and practice interview skills- and keep an open mind to what setting you will thrive in- I applied for anything remotely interesting- and through the interview process had some frustrations, but ultimately ended up with the right employer- and they got a fantastic Nurse.

Never had this experience in 13 years of Nursing- Then I made a career switch. Then I went back to Nursing, but somehow being away from Nursing had done something to me. The weight of the world came down on my shoulders- I came home one night and was crying (My husband said he had never seen me so upset). I felt like I had lost something that I had worked so hard for- that I couldn't do it anymore- I had failed. So I backed off, resumed my other career, and did a lot of personal care. Now I am back in the saddle, much more forgiving of myself. Try some therapy, yoga, running, breathing, meditating.... First you are going to have to make some space to feel comfortable to do this- its ok- you are smart and tenacious enough to make it through Nursing school, trust in yourself that you will figure this out too.

Stay on as on call or per diem, your future employers won't know that you quit-

Suspected- not convicted- Washington State has an alternative to discipline program. Many people go through this, most never get arrested. If I could do it again I would get a job with benefits and use those benefits to go through the rehab program. I also learned to go to an evaluator that did not offer inpatient treatment. No matter what, don't give up, you are the captain of your ship- make the best choices you can to help yourself, and try to be gentle with yourself.

Just my limitations on how much stress I can handle- for example: too many hours, too many days in a row does not leave me time to do self care- so I can't/won't work a lot of hours. Too much responsibility with inadequate practice guidelines leaves me distancing myself too. When I was in the program, and even now, I do not wish to work in high acuity areas as I had before- give me a chill nursing job and maybe.

Quit the second job- I have been out of my monitoring program for 9 months or so- I am amazed by my limitations now- I have come home crying when I took on a job that was too physically exhausting- I have to look at it through the lens of doing what I can, not a failure. I have to pay attention to myself first and foremost- if not its too easy to let the "should" take over my life.

Sounds like the hospital is sidestepping the BON- in Oregon the BON has a policy for marijuana as it is a legal drug in this state- so if you are not impaired while practicing you will likely not be on probation. Can you consult with an attorney to see what the likely outcomes would be in your state?

It does sound like your manager wants you to be successful. Sometimes that comes in being able to improve your skills, sometimes it comes from knowing your limits and finding the right fit. Not being in the right fit for a job is not a failure- this is about you and your needs intersecting with a job. Go ahead and look for that other job!

Congrats on the job- sorry you are having difficulty with some of the aspects of it. I used to be a nurse manager- one of the things that nurses working in our unit did that drove me crazy was think that they could wait until the end of the shift to chart. This is likely what you are going to be talking with your manager about. For this I recommend saying that this bothers you too, and would there be someone available to help set up your navigator to make charting more efficient. Hopefully your facility has software that is customizable for users- and then you can have 1 or 2 flowsheets that encompass all of your charting needs. Much easier to have a checklist. If this is not an option, make yourself a paper template that you can follow. The other part of the workload- patient care. As a floor nurse I would be busy all the time, then I went to the ICU- after some time I would float to the step down unit and be done with all of my work at 10. I had to ask my old co-worker who was now the manager of the floor if I was missing something- no, just more efficient. Coming on shift I would get everyone up out of bed to a chair- no choice- they eat and have their meds (My facility had a 1 hour window for meds- so at 8 they would get their 07-08-09 meds at the same time- document as given). Ambulate down the hall and back to bed for a nap. Then I would chart, take my lunch, then do it all again for noon. Without knowing for certain where you are getting hung up I would suggest taking the lead here- you have a finite amount of time to get a certain amount of activities done for your patients. Too many years of "customer service" has made many a nurse bow to the whims of a patient- you are the provider of care- you run the schedule. The hypocrisy of the IPN system is something that may change over time- nurses that text all day at work are working distracted. I worked with a group of nurses who would get near black out drunk often. Many a nurse works without proper nutrition, hydration, rest, etc... Try to use this time to take care of yourself, find your limits as to what is acceptable for you, make a life where you can thrive. For me this meant taking a job that doesn't have prestige to the outside world, or even one that I thought I would want for long. My life is totally different- thank the gods.

I imagine you are going to move somewhere in the Portland metro area- Tualatin or Hillsboro- Portland proper is expensive, and even more so if you want a good school district. Most employers being union will take a long time to get back to you, so travel/contract is a great way to hit the ground running at a good hospital. Kaiser is a great place to work.

The OSBN has some rules for marijuana as it is legal and a medicine in this state. If it was a random test and not for cause, your employer can fire you, but the BON might not find a need for you to enter rehab for a legal substance.

I got a letter about 2 months before end of my contract stating the board had approved my discharge date- I tried to log in that morning for a drug screen and I got the message my user number was not recognized. Wrote an email to be sure and got confirmation I was done. No hoops, no drama- just done. As for the 12 step programs- I don't participate- I got a dog, spend time with friends, go to yoga, put myself first.

Just remember HR is not there to protect you- they are there to protect the business. I find with Nurses we are much less likely to file lawsuits, so HR will usually be ok with whatever harm comes our way.

Wrongful termination indeed- and reporting false information to the board. Talk to a lawyer.

We should be treating all drug addiction as a public health issue- more articles this week outlining how: the length of time a person is prescribed a narcotic indicates how long they will use it, and how most addicts start with a prescription. It should have been criminal to give me a script for 30 days supply of narcotics- After 10 just days there is a 50% chance of being on narcotics for 2 years. I was set up by the pharmaceutical industry- "you deserve to be out of pain". Just about every doctor and nurse I know is/was complicit in the "pain as a 5th vital sign" scam. The excellent point to be gleaned is that our system is failing to address the larger problem in society- The criminalization of health issues which then takes a person beyond the point of being able to adequately provide for themselves, or contribute to the community.

Absolutely not- There but for the grace of god, go I. I did not have gods grace- but I did get a second chance. Ask yourself, how many nurses take a little tylenol from the patient supply, maybe even some zofran? How about those patient water bottles? Where should we begin with violations of the nurse practice act- I can't tell you how many parties I went to where the nurses were drunk "Conduct unbecoming a nurse". My story of addiction began like so many others- misdiagnosed- told I deserved to be out of pain- prescribed opiates. Finally diagnosed correctly- off the opiates cold turkey while working in a PACU. My brain pathways had changed, I was not myself. If Mary takes an ibuprofen to treat her pain, whats wrong with taking the waste? Pretty soon I was outright taking medication from the pyxis, the hospital was too cheap to link up the charting systems- so I wasn't caught for some time. We jail the most people in the world, and it has done nothing. Evidence shows that treating addiction as a public health issue is effective. Why would professionals who live in the world of evidence based practice advocate for an ineffective treatment? You not only lose a good nurse from the profession, but now you have stigmatized them so they would be unable to get employment. It is sad to see so many comments supporting a bad outcome, especially from those who know the dynamics of the profession.

Gosh- that was me 5 years ago- if I could give myself some words of advice back then: -I would tell myself to stop obsessing with the "what if" scenarios -I would (and still struggle with this) do something physically active every day What helped me to get through the first year was a lot of distraction like netflix, and ice cream. Maybe not the best, but looking back I was recovering from a disease, I needed the rest and recovery- just like other patients. Recognize that your thinking will change, that your brain pathways are different right now, that you will feel "normal" again. You can make it through- its like layers of an onion to figure out the root of your reasons for self medicating- I no longer carry the knot in my stomach that was there for years. It took a lot of "ah ha" moments to get here. You can do it- you will be glad you did. I went through my program and have a license in good standing- I don't work as an RN anymore- but I am glad that I went through the program- I am a better person to myself for it.

That is a DOT (Department of Transportation) protocol for UDS. A lot of times the observer will follow that protocol, when in fact your facility policy might be less intrusive. The observer should be following protocol of your organization, or that might be reason for a lawsuit.

The hospital likely gets a lower insurance rate if they drug screen everyone... If they really cared they would have a different mechanism for catching people. Have a script for oxy, only steal oxo's... etc Many civilized countries do not drug test, many jobs with the state/county do not drug test either (not even during the hire process). It is purely a way to make an average person feel like they are under the control of others... and get people who use marijuana into drug treatment... Bad policies make for unhappy employees.

Yes- that is normal to have the frequency of testing increase after a positive test. The terms were spelled out from my testing provider- first year monitoring 24-36 tests, if positive a minimum of 52 tests... It seems the frequency goes down fairly quickly. The program can be punitive, I had to cash out my 401k, credit cards, etc... but I made it through with my license clear, (I haven't worked as a RN since...)

Thank goodness- I was very concerned for you and am so happy to hear you are complete!