TPAPN and employment

[RNMSN51]

Hi everyone. I am 15 months sober and 1 year down in TPAPN . I decided to take a year off and take care of myself. I am now starting the job search. Unfortunately every time I ask my advocate questions she does not know the answer. She never was in TPAPN and recently she informed me that she has never worked with anyone going through the employment process with TPAPN. I have a new CM, not a nurse. I was wondering if anyone has some tips about this process. I left my CM a message today, informing of my desire to seek employment and I have been reviewing the TPAPN paperwork. One of my questions is in regards to getting started. Does my CM need to approve my seeking employment on a document or is it verbal? What are some of the possible pitfalls? Basically, I would appreciate any tips about this process. I have kept my head down and not talked but once to my previous CM and today was my first attempt to speak to the new CM. Any help would be appreciated. I appreciate all of your support from this forum. Thanks to all.

[Big Blondie, ASN, BSN, MSN, APRN]

Awesome that you got to take time to recover. If we had a grave illness we wouldnt think twice about taking off, but most of us are so concerned for different reasons about going back to work, sometimes probably too soon. This is my second time enrolled in TPAPN, first time I took off three months, this time many moons later I took off about 3 weeks. I self referred both times. Sometimes I wonder why, why, why. Deep down I knew if my use was discovered I would get another chance in TPAPN, so I had my plan B intact and continued to self destruct. I couldve just went to treatment on my own, but I just couldnt stay quit. So much changed from before, there were a lot less restrictions, then it was 2 years, now Im staring down another 4 1/2 years, but it is what it is. I appreciate TPAPN. They have been supportive, and called me out when I needed it. I really didnt need as much time offthis time as the first time around, but really do commend you for taking care of you. TPAPN lost an excellent casemanager who had been around for years. I can imagine that it is a very stressful job. I know of the CM you got and have been told they are very good, but dont have anything to support the statement but the word of a friend. I disagree with an advocate who hasnt walked the walk, but probably shouldnt, and will likely change my views, but as a nurse neelding the support at such a vulnerable time, it sure is nice to talk to someone who has "made it to the other side", so to speak. I was an advocate for about 4 years, and actually quit due to various reasons that were selfish on my part, that quickly lead me back to my old habits, and presto...here I am again. To answer your question. Once your doctor says you are safe to work you should be able to seek employement and begin working unless there is some freaky thing with your TPAPN contract. Now the tricky part. Your casemanager has to approve the job. If your casemanager doesnt approve your job you can appeal to the Casemanager committee. If that happens, and you are passionate for the position in question, then sell the pros and cons to your casemanager and ask them to present to the committee. I will tell you, they do have the power. Your casemanager can sell you up or down the river. They can make exceptions to the rules. I have seen it done. I wish you luck in your job search, and appreciate all the posts from everyone. I look forward to reading them, it kind of keeps me grounded in all of this.

[Big Blondie, ASN, BSN, MSN, APRN]

I did not have to get anything in writing to look for job, had to do return to work and fax in to TPAPN to start working, which they did by phone to help me start back right away.

[Oogie]

I never lost my Job but did have approval from my CM "ONCE" I had a neg UA took about 3 weeks. Actually the process took time that was a stressfull part. peace