RN7916

Welcome! First, stop reading the internet! It's not going to help! I am in PNAP and it's completely doable. For me, the state board requirements are just a side step for my license. I got sober, did the right thing and see the state board as something that is just easy actually. I've had two jobs so far. First one I didn't like so I got a new one. This one is in a hospital on a tele unit. I've had multiple offers. I believe people can tell if you are genuine about recovery when you disclose, I always do it in person. Hopefully you were assigned a nurse support group like I was, you can get a lot of good feedback for interviewing there. Good luck!

A 5 year contract and restrictions isn't considered disciplinary action against your license at all, esp in KY and their program. It is considered a restriction on ones practice, huge difference!!

Hi! This is great, thanks for setting this up! State: Pennsylvania Name of program: PNAP Years sober: 6 months Able to find employment: Ugh, the worst part! Not yet, but not trying very hard either, if I'm being honest. Have a good possibility on the horizon. Working non nursing right now to make ends meet. Willing to answer questions: ABSOLUTELY! A positive: OK I may not be popular for saying this, cuz the some of the hoops we hop through are ridiculous, but they keep me accountable until I can be accountable for myself. This was a relapse for me, I had some time before, so also getting plugged back into AA and rediscovering life, well it just saved my life! Years a nurse: 12

Agree with others who recommend changing your name, words are powerful! i assume you are newly sober? Putting the drink/drug down is actually the easy part- working through all the crap that took you to drinking and drugging is how you STAY sober! I was all over the place when I first got sober, to be expected, we numb ourselves for so long! Not to mention just how imbalanced our brain chemistry is in the beginning.... It takes a lot of time and hard work. Be kind and patient with yourself- it doesn't come over night. Get a sponsor, do the steps, talk to other alcoholics/addicts. I love one on one counseling. I feel safe to speak about personal things I don't want the whole world to know about there. I was told I gotta get in there and rip open all those scars that healed so badly because I took care of the wounds so poorly. Work through em and in the end, I will still have the scar but it won't be so gnarly. I thought the person who told me this was crazy!! But they were right... And that resentment thing another poster talked about, yes, THAT! Resentment is baaaaad for us! Hang in there, don't be so hard on yourself and take it day by day. Us addicts love a quick fix! Sending cyber hug!

Hi there Atmosphere! I think the scariest thing is not knowing what to expect. But before you know it, you will know exactly what to do and find that it's not difficult if you are doing the right thing! And that's all you can do right now, is wake up everyday and try to do the next right thing. You will have great days, bad days, days you feel triumphant and days you want to give up. You may find one day you want to tell your story on here and you may not, either is just fine! You might find people you trust right away and it might take longer. There is no "right" way, there is only your way. You will read horror stories and you will read success stories. The reality is, even the best and the worst "stories" are all quite average in the life of an addict! Some people will understand and some won't, all are OK! I use to hate when people told me one day at a time, keep coming back, all you have is today but it IS great advice. A big congrats to you for doing the right thing for you "today" by posting. Hang in there, it does get easier :)

Just in response to your comment about finding out of pain affects sleep (and hope I am showing what post I replied to, I'm new to posting here, but a long time stalker ). There is a ton of research on this. My husbands doctor has actually published regarding this. It's all quite complicated and fascinating. There is also a correlation with increased pain when a patient is unable to enter normal sleep cycles. If you have made buddies with a doc and are really that interested, most hospitals give docs free access to most research publication sites that us nurses don't get. You can read lots of great stuff!

To the OP, did you talk to your Case Manager through PNAP before applying for MD license? If so, I'm surprised they didn't tell you that yes, you are able to apply for another state but you would then have to enter their program IF they accept you. For some of the other questions....if you are/were in a program that when you complete your license is "clean, free, clear with no mark on it," you can apply for another state and not have to disclose that info. I was told by my case manager when I made it through that you mark no, that's the purpose of the voluntary programs. Well ok, not the "purpose" but you get my point. For people that have the "Mark" on their license, you will most likely have to go through some sort of monitoring if you apply to a new state. Depending on that state and your circumstances, it may be the whole term or a shortened term. Hope this helps! Good luck!

I have read every reply on this thread and almost didn't reply, but I must! The beauty of free speech, right? I get where OP is coming from, which I think, is more from the stand point of the people who abuse narcotics. They suck the life out of you, they take up our time that I could be spending with my acutely ill patients, they make me question why the heck do I do this job! I get it, it makes our job hard. However, it doesn't mean that pain isn't real, which the OP has also stated they understand. There is an opiate epidemic in this country and its real. The problem can't be fixed by nurses and doctors deciding not to give narcotics. It is a problem that has to be addressed by so many disciplines in our field from PCP's, to the ER to Pain Management. And in every field, there are docs who know what they are doing and docs who throw a Percocet script at the patients with a sprained ankle. What makes me want to speak up is the fact that I deal with someone who is in chronic pain daily. If I could only tell you the three years of hell we went through and the ridiculous amount of physicians we went to before finding a doc who didn't just throw a narcotic prescription at him and tell him to come back in 6 months. We are beyond grateful we found an amazing Doctor. Would we have found that doctor if I wasn't a nurse and advocated for my husband? Probably not. Everyone isn't this lucky. His doctor controls his pain with multiple medications, not one of them being a narcotic, until recently. It was something I stood up and said "no way, my husband won't be addicted to narcotics!" Where did my thinking come from, not actual fact but my skewed biased of the percentage of people I see as a working nurse who abuse the system. My husband suffered for years because of me. Does my husband still suffer in pain? You betcha, but there is some more quality to his life. Does my husband also have other Pain Management modalities other than narcotics? You betcha. He takes gaba, NSRI's, PT and sees a shrink to accept the fact he will have a life of pain and needs to learn how to alter his lifestyle because of it. Because of my narrow mind, I truly believe I did more harm than help, and I am his advocate! However, this experience made me alter my nursing practice. Do I hand out narcotics like water to the seekers, no way. I talk to the providers and give them my assessment- they are laughing and joking with their visitors displaying not an ounce of pain then when I pull the curtain they roll back and forth and put on a show. Will I make them "see the way to sobriety" by withholding their narcotics? Not a chance. But I do advocate for patients I believe are in pain, despite their history of no chronic pain or having chronic pain. Just because someone has prescribed narcotics does not mean that they cannot exacerbate or have a different acute condition. And yes, they do require higher doses of narcotics for an acute issue. Shame on me for my years of judgement. At no time in school or practice did someone say, here is your nursing license, go forth and judge people. Do I get duped sometimes? Sure! Is pain always what the patient says it is? No way! But I learned that every patient is individual, and it is my responsibility as a healthcare provider to be nonjudgmental. Recently there was a patient in the ER that ended up with a ruptured appy. Was also an IV heroin abuser. They died. Would we have prevented their death by giving some IV narcotics? No! But would their death have been prevented if they weren't just flagged as an abuser? Who knows, maybe. My whole point is, as a few other commenters stated, this is not a black and white issue. There are MULTIPLE flaws in our healthcare system surrounding the subject of pain. Oh and one more thing and I will shut up! Someone stated yoga for chronic back pain. Yes, for some, can be an amazing form of therapy. But for others, not so much. Chronic back pain is not one condition, there are hundreds of underlying factors and conditions that cause chronic back pain. If I went to our neurologist and said "hey doc, I read online that my husband should do yoga for his 'chronic back pain,' I read it on the internet so it must be true" he would probably get up and smack me. In which he should! That would be the most detrimental thing for my husband. I am not on a soap box nor here to change anyone's mind. There is a difference between addiction, pain management, abuse, dependance and tolerance. I hope if I ever take my husband to the ER one day that he will not be judged. But I'm also aware that is not probable.

So perfectly said. Started in tele, hated it. Went to ICU, loved it. Off to the ER, loved it. Research, loved it. Regulatory, loved it. Education, loved it (and use to LOATHE precepting). I recently left a corporate environment to go back to patient care and was approached only a few months in for a leadership position. When I went back to clinical I had a strong will to go do my 12's and clock out, but I took that leadership position and learning a ton and loving it! I had "gut" instincts in school like knowing I would hate L&D and loving ICU and ER- which both were true, but if I didn't let the wind take me where it did, I would have missed out on so much. The best advice I can give is have an open mind, force change and challenge on yourself and get your hands in as many pots as you can- there is nothing worse than being stuck in one single field without the room to grow when you are finally ready to make a jump. I wanted to be a CRNA when I was in school- haven't thought about that in over 10 years now!

Thanks so much for a quick reply! If you don't mind or anyone on here in the OU program could answer one more thing (ooh but sure many more questions to come!) I just got some info on OUs rn to bsn emailed to me and it mentions clinical?! I thought it was clinical free! I live in Philadelphia and know I could get something set up- but was really looking forward to a program without clinical

Hi Woodsyny! I just looked at your online suggestion for stats and looks great. Quick question- does it matter what "parent school" you choose to take the online courses? And how long does it take to be accepted to enroll? I'm trying to get the oct 8 week stats course and wondering if I have enough time.... Thanks in advance!