Ramifications of taking benzo to deal with stress of job?

[utah23LPN]

All,

Started my first RN job about a month ago and found that I was having severe panic attacks at work and having trouble sleeping at home. My PCP gave me a prescription for Klonopin 0.25mg PRN for anxiety. I have had to take some while at work but I never thought it made me sleepy or was in any way harmful in my job performance. I wondered what would happen if

1. An accident happened at work and I had to take the company required post incident drug test and tested positive for benzos for which I have a valid prescription for?

2. The end of shift narcotic account is "off" and benzo's are missing? I'm not sure if they do a drug test right then but maybe they do and I look like the theif.

Anybody had any experience in this area? I'm sure there are nurses that take Lortab for valid pain(maybe not even while work) but have enough in their system to make a positive drug test.

Thanks,

[sirI, MSN, APRN, NP]

One reason we, as Staff, hate to see threads like this is because at one point in time, someone will come along and give erroneous information.

It is never advisable to abruptly discontinue any medication w/o being under the care of a Healthcare Provider.

Advice given on the internet like this can be deadly.

We do hope the OP has rec'd some good support dealing with this issue and we do hope can find a reasonable treatment plan with which to work.