I am wondering about other's experiences getting a reevaluation done by IPN.
Quick (sorry, not quick) backstory, I entered the program 9 months ago after a dependence with opiates. I am definitely grateful for all the treatment I have received and Sobriety it brought me. That being said, I feel like IPN is, at heart, a money-making machine. My current situation is that I am a stay-at-home mom with no plans to return to nursing until probably the last year of my contract, which is allowed. Even then, I have reservations about returning to nursing at all, as my family might be taking an "alternate route to life" a.k.a. moving onto a catamaran. I only say this because it goes towards my motivations about the financial obligations of this program.
About six weeks ago I had a traumatic injury for which I chose to take pain medicine for, for about four weeks. It was not a decision I entered into lightly; frankly I was terrified to open pandoras box after well over a year of sobriety but I'm off them now and I'm feeling fine about it. In other words, no cravings. During these four weeks I was still drug tested of course and unfortunately had one dilute specimen, my one and only that I've ever had. Amazing timing. Now that I'm off the painkillers, My caseworker states that I am required to be reevaluated because of my last use of painkillers in combo with the dilute, even though I went through all the necessary steps to notify IPN of my injury, medication prescriptions etc, and it was an approved use. I didn't even know that was a possibility when I chose to take them!
I feel like the evaluation is going to result in a recommendation of another round of IOP or worse, inpatient treatment. The fact that they send you to an evaluator who has a vested interest in his treatment facility seems like a clear conflict of interest. Out of the 8 people in my Rn support group, 6 have been required to be re evaluated at some point during their contracts and ALL of them had to go through another round of (higher care than their previous) treatment, some warranted, some that seemed absurd.
I guess my main question is, if I'm conflicted about staying in this program at all, even before these events of late, should I just throw in the towel now before I spend $$$ to be automatically told I need another round of treatment? I feel like I have a strong hold on my recovery, an awesome sponsor, go to meetings etc...believe me, I'm truly grateful for the peace in my life sobriety has brought me! But I feel like that is not going to matter one iota in IPN's eyes. There is no way I could leave my family for any type of inpatient stay and even if IOP was the recommendation, I just feel like it's completely unnecessary. Again, I'm not working as a nurse now, and don't plan to for another few years as my kids grow up.
Has anyone ever found success pleading their case, letters from sponsors making a difference...anything??? It seems like the rationale thing to do, but if I go in guns blazing, I think it will seem as if I'm trying to manipulate the situation, like "thou doth protest too much," lol. There just seems like no right answer to this and there probably isn't.
I would appreciate any and all feedback, if anyone even made it to the end of my post, that is! Sometimes it helps to just get all your thoughts down on paper, obviously in this case I've been mulling a lot around! My gut feeling is I want to keep my license bc I worked so hard for it, yet the financial (and demoralizing) effect of IPN on my family makes me feel like such a burden, especially if I never work as a nurse again by choice. I know if I surrender and change my mind somewhere down the road my license will suffer, but every nurse in my support group has public discipline on their licenses and all but one are working. So, not ideal, but possible?
I'm cleared to drive at the end of next week and therefore able to make the pilgrimage to Gainesville, should I chose to do so, as long as my wallet is full of cash that is...
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I am wondering about other's experiences getting a reevaluation done by IPN.
Quick (sorry, not quick) backstory, I entered the program 9 months ago after a dependence with opiates. I am definitely grateful for all the treatment I have received and Sobriety it brought me. That being said, I feel like IPN is, at heart, a money-making machine. My current situation is that I am a stay-at-home mom with no plans to return to nursing until probably the last year of my contract, which is allowed. Even then, I have reservations about returning to nursing at all, as my family might be taking an "alternate route to life" a.k.a. moving onto a catamaran. I only say this because it goes towards my motivations about the financial obligations of this program.
About six weeks ago I had a traumatic injury for which I chose to take pain medicine for, for about four weeks. It was not a decision I entered into lightly; frankly I was terrified to open pandoras box after well over a year of sobriety but I'm off them now and I'm feeling fine about it. In other words, no cravings. During these four weeks I was still drug tested of course and unfortunately had one dilute specimen, my one and only that I've ever had. Amazing timing. Now that I'm off the painkillers, My caseworker states that I am required to be reevaluated because of my last use of painkillers in combo with the dilute, even though I went through all the necessary steps to notify IPN of my injury, medication prescriptions etc, and it was an approved use. I didn't even know that was a possibility when I chose to take them!
I feel like the evaluation is going to result in a recommendation of another round of IOP or worse, inpatient treatment. The fact that they send you to an evaluator who has a vested interest in his treatment facility seems like a clear conflict of interest. Out of the 8 people in my Rn support group, 6 have been required to be re evaluated at some point during their contracts and ALL of them had to go through another round of (higher care than their previous) treatment, some warranted, some that seemed absurd.
I guess my main question is, if I'm conflicted about staying in this program at all, even before these events of late, should I just throw in the towel now before I spend $$$ to be automatically told I need another round of treatment? I feel like I have a strong hold on my recovery, an awesome sponsor, go to meetings etc...believe me, I'm truly grateful for the peace in my life sobriety has brought me! But I feel like that is not going to matter one iota in IPN's eyes. There is no way I could leave my family for any type of inpatient stay and even if IOP was the recommendation, I just feel like it's completely unnecessary. Again, I'm not working as a nurse now, and don't plan to for another few years as my kids grow up.
Has anyone ever found success pleading their case, letters from sponsors making a difference...anything??? It seems like the rationale thing to do, but if I go in guns blazing, I think it will seem as if I'm trying to manipulate the situation, like "thou doth protest too much," lol. There just seems like no right answer to this and there probably isn't.
I would appreciate any and all feedback, if anyone even made it to the end of my post, that is! Sometimes it helps to just get all your thoughts down on paper, obviously in this case I've been mulling a lot around! My gut feeling is I want to keep my license bc I worked so hard for it, yet the financial (and demoralizing) effect of IPN on my family makes me feel like such a burden, especially if I never work as a nurse again by choice. I know if I surrender and change my mind somewhere down the road my license will suffer, but every nurse in my support group has public discipline on their licenses and all but one are working. So, not ideal, but possible?
I'm cleared to drive at the end of next week and therefore able to make the pilgrimage to Gainesville, should I chose to do so, as long as my wallet is full of cash that is...