what are my rights??

i think that, in order to get your license back, the nurse monitoring program is what you must do.

you were stressed then, which led to the drugs. you will be stressed as a nurse..what will that lead to?

thats just my opinion. i dont know much about the nurse monitoring program, or getting your license back after a possession. i just wanted to add my thoughts on this, and just wanted to state that doing this is beneficial to you and to your patients.

i am not justifying what you did or looking to open a can of worms, i'm just stating my opinion. and i'm so sorry about what happened to your husband, and your son for that matter.

you can never be too safe. i wish you the best

If I were you I would go ahead and do the program. Whatever it takes to get your license back is worth it in my opinion. You made a mistake and there are consequences to making those mistakes. Just go with the flow and get it over with. Good luck!

Thankyou for replying. I guess I am just looking for support and encouragement. i am looking into support groups with other nurses that have been through it too. It helps too know I am not alone.

You are not alone; either in nursing or in society as a whole.

Do what the BON requires of you. It will be worth it in the long run.

OK, I'll play devil's advocate.

With rights come responsibilities. You ask about your rights, but not your responsibilities. You seem to be asking about some 'right' to regain your license without going through the responsibility to prove that you aren't a risk, by intoxication, to your potential patients.

The answer: you have no such rights. Why? Because the rights of patients to be taken care of by clean and sober nurses are paramount.

I'm all for success stories. And several nurses can tell you about the LONG road to recovery, of both their license, and their sanity - from drug addiction.

I just don't see any evidence in your post that you are even on that road. You frame the thread by the suggestion that you are and have been part and parcel to alot of co-dependent enabling behavior --- behavior that cuts both ways, as you are or have been a user, yourself.

There's more to changing your life than some vague notion that you want to quit. By the very little you posted, your whole life is about this. You have to change EVERYTHING, not just commit to not using. You have to change your relationship w/ your son, you have to change the things and people in your life that will allow you to succumb under pressure.

There's a commitment here that's bigger than 'what are my rights'. It's time for you to start thinking in terms of 'what are my responsibilities'. You were charged w/ drug possession but you found a loophole to knock it to a lessor charge. You come here looking for the loophole to avoid peer review for drug abuse. Any AA person will tell you that you first have to own up to your behavior and who you are. You're still looking for the denial - the way out. Re-read your post: it's not my fault, I've had a bad year. You don't seem on the road to recovery, but on the path to the next rationalization. You blow off the peer review program 'I don't really have a problem with', but it is evident that you DO have a problem with it: 'What are my rights'.

In my opinion, and I may be wrong, but you still have work to go before you will even consider, much less survive, a peer review program for drug abuse.

I'm not dissing you. I'm sure you can turn your life around. I hope and pray that you do. But first you have to wake up. And you sound like you're still asleep and in a haze.

I'm not being brutal. Just honest. IF the truth hurts, I didn't put the bite in it.

The program IS voluntary. But at this point, so is regaining your license. That being the case, what are you going to do?

~faith,

Timothy.

You have the right to prove you are clean and sober and are willing to do whatever it takes to get your license back. Your BON needs to be positive that you are indeed clean and sober......your word is not good enough.

You are guilty, as charged. Until you can look yourself in the mirror and face that, honestly and openly, you aren't fit to be responsible for other people's lives. You can't make it go away, and you can't change it. And you can't change your future until you face it, with the blinders off.

The peer review program for drug abuse isn't a punishment; it's an opportunity.

Until you can look at it as the OPPORTUNITY that it is, you will not be equipped to successfully complete it.

I've personally known people who couldn't stand the 'punishment' of our state program, TPAPN, and so left nursing altogether.

I've met people here that used the OPPORTUNITY of their programs to turn their lives around.

Ultimately, it's a gut check. But it's a worthy gut check. You didn't get to this point easily, and you won't rise above it easily, nor should you. It's been my experience that the things in life that are truly worthwhile take effort.

You have a wonderful OPPORTUNITY laid out before you. But that choice is yours. It's not an easy choice, granted. It'll be hard work and sweat and more tears than you can imagine. But I can't imagine that, on the other side, you wouldn't be a better person. And THAT person WOULD be fit to be responsible for the lives of others.

~faith,

Timothy.

i think that, in order to get your license back, the nurse monitoring program is what you must do.

you were stressed then, which led to the drugs. you will be stressed as a nurse..what will that lead to?

thats just my opinion. i dont know much about the nurse monitoring program, or getting your license back after a possession. i just wanted to add my thoughts on this, and just wanted to state that doing this is beneficial to you and to your patients.

i am not justifying what you did or looking to open a can of worms, i'm just stating my opinion. and i'm so sorry about what happened to your husband, and your son for that matter.

you can never be too safe. i wish you the best

good post.

Thanks everyone for setting me straight. I realize now it is my responsibility not my right. I like the person that said I can use it as an opportunity. It is my choice and I can choose the positive road or the negative one. I think I will choose the positive and use it as an opportunity. Thats the beauty of these forums and I have learned alot! I don't think it's anyone's place to say i am not on that road or in a haze because you dont even know me but that is your side of the street and I dont have to take that on. I wonder about one who tries to analyze my whole life by looking at one simple question! It has been a long hard road to get to where I am today. I am proud of myself and it doesnt matter who else is. Thanks for your honesty.

What you are being asked to do (a 5 year nurse monitoring program) to regain/retain your license is the result of your own previous behavior. You don't have "a right" to your license now until you've completed the 5 years and "they" do have "a right" to require this of you. On the other hand, if you truly are clean and sober now and want to continue on this path, a program such as you have described is a wonderful guide and help. I know, I did it successfully years ago. Best thing that ever happened to me. Good Luck.

Cool. How did it go for you? Were you able to talk to other nurses in the program and get support that way? I got to meetings and all but it is different nurse to nurse.