Surviving Peer Assistance Services

SpankedInPittsburgh, DNP, RN · Dec 31, 2017

I don't know what PAS is. Is it a nurse or nurse practitioner monitoring program? I'm from Pennsylvania and we have PNAP which is our "assistance" program. Surviving this program is no easy event. I don't know where you are located or at in the process but I'll describe how I'm 'surviving" the best I can. When you first enter the process you are evaluated for the level of "treatment" you need. You have to complete this treatment and do 90 12 step meetings in 12 days along with passing several urine tests before you can ask to go back to work. For me that time span was October - February. I was lucky I'm a long-time federal employee who had sufficient leave time built up so I got a check this whole time. It was only about 1/2 the size it was before PNAP as I wasn't doing OT or getting shift diff. For many of my colleagues they simply lose their jobs. This is problematic as without a job most don't have insurance & they have paying for either inpatient or patient rehab. I have no idea how they manage to pay for this stuff. Anyway, once released from treatment you can ask to return to work. This return typically has conditions. You have restrictions placed in the areas of; narcotics, where you work (no critical care or ER) & you need to have on-site supervision at all times. Once again I got lucky I work for the government and am covered by a union contract so I was reassigned to administrative position which according to my last pay-stub cost me about $40K this year. You also have to go to "support" meetings weekly and listen to other similarly situated nurses talk about stuff that usually has nothing to do with recovery but is always tedious at best. You have to pee test when they say to pee test and submit monthly paperwork to your case manager. Your boss also has to turn in a quarterly report. This nonsense goes on for 3-5 years. Oh yeah you gotta go to 3 12 step meetings every week during this time even if the experience has no meaning what so ever to you

Recovering_RN · Dec 31, 2017

You have to complete this treatment and do 90 12 step meetings in 12 days along with passing several urine tests before you can ask to go back to work.

90 meetings in 12 days would keep you pretty busy! I am sure you meant 90/90, 90 12-step meetings in 90 days. :)

SpankedInPittsburgh, DNP, RN · Dec 31, 2017

This is true!!!! 90 in 90. Never post before that second cup of coffee

Lisacar130 · Dec 31, 2017

OK well all of these programs are different. I'm from IL and we have different requirements. There is no 90/90 requirement. This is going to upset some people but I only pay $30/month. Others have to pay more in IL depending on a few factors, but the most is a few hundred a month. I submit a quarterly report and my boss doesn't even know i'm in recovery and doesn't submit anything (some in IL do have to have their boss submit a report, it depends on what the BON wants and if you got probation or not). My only restriction is I have to get monthly vivitrol shot and my case manager has to informally approve of what job I have, but she is very nice and I am allowed to have a job where I handle an occasional opiate but it is a lot safer of a job than I used to have. We have to go to two meetings a week, one has to be a 12 step and the other can be a 12 step or a nurse support group or something similar. We get 13-16 random tests a year. Usually in IL it is 3 years. So basically it all depends on your state.

SpankedInPittsburgh, DNP, RN · Dec 31, 2017

I'm not upset just very jealous

Lisacar130 · Dec 31, 2017

Sorry!

catsmeow1972, BSN, RN · Dec 31, 2017

Overall, it varies by state and varies by contract. As best as I've seen some of the more draconian states seem to be Florida and Texas. Except for Florida I can't speak on specifics. Most contracts involve meetings, P tests, more meetings, restrictions on your work that range from understandable and appropriate all the way to "are you ***** kidding me."

Overall most of these *monitoring* programs (which should be restricting themselves to your activities while functioning as a nurse) have leached into controlling your time and activities outside of nursing. Many seem to be more about money and power than about any kind of recovery.

While I am stuck in the cesspool of my program for mental health issues (I refuse to label myself a problem) I have found some awesome support amoung the folks here in recovery. As mental health and substance use issues can intertwine, we are no so different.