So I am getting ready for bsn nursing school to start in the summer. One of the things that was required was a drug test. I took it without any hesitation, since I do not take any drugs. However, I did messed up before the drug test. Because of all the stress of moving, getting ready for nursing school, and personal life things my mother suggested I take one her lorazepam pill to help me calm down. I took it without hesitation because it a pretty universally used drug.
The part that I messed up at is that I took it before the drug test and it showed up. I obviously have no documentation saying that I have a prescription. So now I am kicking myself in the head and I don't know what to do.
What are the consequences for this? Will I be prevented to start? Are there any legal problems I should worry about? Can I retake it to show I am not an addict or have a problem with drugs? I am thinking of e-mailing my programs director to explain my situation and tell him "I am an idiot, I am not an addict, and I am very sorry. Please don't kick me out". Thoughts?
Specializes in Allergy/ENT, Occ Health, LTC/Skilled.
I used to administer drug screens and pull results -- the MRO (doctor reviewing drug results) will 100% check the prescription dates to see if you were prescribed this during the time of the drug screen. DO NOT do that, it will make you look like your trying to cover up an addiction you do not have.
This may sound a little harsh, but you are NOT nursing material. You took a controlled substance without a prescription. And to top this off, your mother gave it to you.
I think that is a bit over the top for you to judge someone else as they are or they are not "nursing material". You don't know the background of the OP, maybe they didn't know lorazepam was a controlled substance. I am only a graduated nurse, waiting for my NCLEX seat, but I find your post disturbing.
Drug testing companies don't care who ordered the test; they are required to report a positive or negative to school/employer/etc,. You volunteered to take the test. Now, why the drug testing people are calling you is they want verification of a Rx for the medication. You give them the name of your doc, and than they call to verify that the doc does prescribe the med PRN or routine; it's over, and a negative is given to whomever ordered the test. If you don't provide a doc's name that has the ability to tell them they do, infact, prescribe the medication to you, your drug test will be sent as a positive (not good; you want a negative).
Even if you're taking many meds, as long as you have a Rx for the meds, and they can confirm it, the result will be negative. Drug testing companies cannot disclose what legal meds you have.
The drug testing company cannot disclose why you were positive (I know many do but that's illegal!). You could go and tell the school what happened before they get the results, but as a future nurse it doesn't look good that you would take someone's meds.
I'm playing devil's advocate here because I understand, but as a nurse you can't take meds that aren't yours if they are scheduled. I would schedule an appointment, not email. You need to be looking into their eyes when you tell them. I don't know what will happen, but go fight. Nursing schools have such a large pool of future students that when they see a positive drug screen...
The reason I took the medication is because I believed it was a very generic prescription for anxiety. That's the only reason. I was obviously wrong and won't make another mistake like that.
The next time you get a prescription, look on the label and see if there isn't a warning printed on it that says something like: "Caution: Federal law prohibits transfer of this drug to any person other than the patient for whom prescribed." This warning is not just printed on the labels for controlled medications, it is printed on all prescribed meds.
Specializes in OR, Nursing Professional Development.
It seems the OP has deleted their profile.
I can still view their profile, and it shows they were active yesterday. It is the weekend, which is typically when AN sees fewer visitors. Could be we won't get an update until next week.
I can still view their profile, and it shows they were active yesterday. It is the weekend, which is typically when AN sees fewer visitors. Could be we won't get an update until next week.
Weird. I tried viewing their profile earlier and got an error message and now I can. Ah well. I repel technology sometimes, and unluckily for me we're doing an EMR conversion this week. Yaaaaaaay! Hahahaha
The next time you get a prescription, look on the label and see if there isn't a warning printed on it that says something like: "Caution: Federal law prohibits transfer of this drug to any person other than the patient for whom prescribed." This warning is not only printed on the labels for controlled medications.
I just looked at my prescriptions; all my meds have it printed, and not just the scheduled meds.
It's not a state-by m-state law...no sharing prescriptions.
I'll be waiting for the outcome, OP; best way is to go to the school; you will have to disclosed what happened-nursing is a very small community, even amongst the nursing schools, you can't outrun this.
Drug testing companies don't care who ordered the test; they are required to report a positive or negative to school/employer/etc,. You volunteered to take the test. Now, why the drug testing people are calling you is they want verification of a Rx for the medication. You give them the name of your doc, and than they call to verify that the doc does prescribe the med PRN or routine; it's over, and a negative is given to whomever ordered the test. If you don't provide a doc's name that has the ability to tell them they do, infact, prescribe the medication to you, your drug test will be sent as a positive (not good; you want a negative).
Even if you're taking many meds, as long as you have a Rx for the meds, and they can confirm it, the result will be negative. Drug testing companies cannot disclose what legal meds you have.
The drug testing company cannot disclose why you were positive (I know many do but that's illegal!). You could go and tell the school what happened before they get the results, but as a future nurse it doesn't look good that you would take someone's meds.
I'm playing devil's advocate here because I understand, but as a nurse you can't take meds that aren't yours if they are scheduled. I would schedule an appointment, not email. You need to be looking into their eyes when you tell them. I don't know what will happen, but go fight. Nursing schools have such a large pool of future students that when they see a positive drug screen...
Positive drug tests are very serious.
Whether or not a drug test will be reported as positive with a valid prescription depends on what the employer has directed the MRO to define as positive. For the majority of jobs, employers can only test for illegal drug use (either illegal substances or drug use without a valid prescription). For direct care nursing jobs however, employers can also screen for potentially impairing medications regardless of whether or not the person has a valid prescription.
klone, MSN, RN
14,857 Posts
Good lord, the rampant self-righteousness displayed in this thread is both amusing and infuriating.