success rate for VRP type programs

[banannabag]

I'm curious to know how many nurses who enter into monitored programs actually are sucrssful in completing them. I just entered into one myself and am overwhelmed worrying about how and if there will ever be a day when I won't have to worry if I called firstlab or made enough meetings for the month and remembered to send the paper in or the fifty other things I seem to now worry about since I got into the program.

[LilRedRN1973]

It gets better. I'm just about a year into my official contract and things have settled down into a routine. There are times when I still get a little tired of having to attend my weekly groups (nurse support, Aftercare, 12 step meetings, and individual counseling) but I also know it's helping set into place a solid foundation on which I can build once I've got nobody but myself holding me accountable. I'm appreciative of my state's nursing board and the fact they will be there for 5 years, figuratively "holding my hand" as I walk through recovery. Without them, I would have relapsed after losing my grandfather or 7 months later, losing my mom. Because of them, I have an extensive support system I was able to lean on during those times. I still have those occasional "oh, crap! I think I forgot to check in today" times but it's because it's been so routine, I've forgotten that I already checked in....lol. There have been two times over the past year where I DID forget to check in. My BON wanted a letter explaining what happened and how I would prevent it from occurring again in the future. They told me they look for patterns and not an isolated missed call-in. All I can tell you is that it does and will get better! Hang in there

[Code55]

Don't know of any statistics of monitoring programs but know of more that have completed than not. Hang in there; it will become routine. Acceptance is the key right know. Just do what you are told and it will get easier. I've been doing this thing for 3 years now and down to about one test a month. That's with no issues. At first, the board does not trust you until you prove some sobriety; usually about a year or so. The key is recovery and just not sobriety and everything else will take of it self. I have a good relationship with my monitor and they are there to help me and do what is in my best interest. It was difficult at first but it does get better. Best of luck!

[banannabag]

Thanx for the workd of encouragement....Lord knows I need them. And. You are right that acceptance is the key because that is my biggest issue right now. I am praying and rreading me bible daily and I am confident that I will get there eventually.

[Code55]

This recovery thing is probably one of the hardest things you will ever do in your life! The good news is depending on how you handle recovery and have a desire for change in yourself and work to achieve what God wants you to do, you will become grateful and thankful of how your life is at the other end. Life in recovery will become your greatest achievements and rewards you will ever receive. I did not have a clue how it could change! When I first got in recovery, life really sucked! I thought I would never see the light at the end, but slowly it got better. The cloud started to lift, the anxiety got less and I started to smile and laugh. I started to surrender and accept things just the way they are. I stopped simply playing God! Today I'm very grateful and possibly would never have become the person I am today without walking through this thing called recovery. Today I am a grateful drug addict but it did not happen over night. Early recovery can be very difficult as it was for me but today I view life through lens of the 12-steps and what God would want me to do. Recovery and how to live life is everything to me, including my nursing license, family, friends, money, material things....If I don't have recovery and how to live life, then I can't have anything including my own life!