What's the deal with asking about what individual tests are for.

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Specializes in Psych, Addictions, SOL (Student of Life).

Granted I went through this a long time ago but I don't remember ever thinking "I wonder what this test is for?" Obviously if you are in the program it's for evidence of some form of drug/ETOH use.

Also back then we couldn't check our results and were only notified for a positive result. Just asking about a result from the lab or case manager would have been seen as relapse behavior and the questioned. What are you so worried about?"

In my mind if you are practicing total abstinance you should have no worry about what a test is for as in theory it doesn't matter because you will be clean.

I was so busy doing the requirements of the program so that I could get back to work that I didn't have time to think of anything else.

Anyway just wondering

Hppy

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I don't know... I think some of us have generalized anxiety disorders/panic attack issues that may have lead to the addiction or use in the first place. So the anxiety lives on in recovery and these programs can be stressful for people.

I could see how someone who is abstinent could still be paranoid about testing. I have had a false positive for alcohol (which I was eventually cleared of) and I know of others who have had false positives from exposure to other things. I am not one who has posted asking about certain tests by the way. But if one day I had to test for something other than option 1 or option 6 (this is what my state does) I would be concerned too because it is always option 1 or option 6. The only time it was for something else was when I had to get a peth test to clear my false positive (although I was told in advance by my case manager what the test was for).

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Specializes in Psych, Addictions, SOL (Student of Life).

I know that these programs are so much more Draconian than when I did it ( 2003-2007). I was never called to do anything but urine tests the whole 5 years. A few of my friends did have to get hair follicle testing but that was usually for rule outs. I get the generalized anxiety something I had for many years. It's mostly in remission now thanks in part to the lessons I learned in the 12 step rooms. I no longer attend meetings but I learned a lot there that I will never forget in terms of coping with life's difficulties.

Hppy

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Specializes in OR.

I think the "Draconian" nature that these things have taken on is the problem. Lisa is quite correct. If your not doing anything you should not be doing then it does not matter what you are being tested for. In theory. However, I think all you have to do is browse recent threads here to see how a lab error or an incidental exposure can turn someone's life upside down for no reason.

Those who are getting weird, obscenely more expensive tests sprung on them, in addition to the routine ones for no reason ( no rule outs, no clarification, no nothing, just because) understandably want to know why. The trust factor is nearly nonexistent with this stuff.

My feeling is that if you are "playing games" ie: doing something you should not, you will get caught, eventually. That is the point of random testing. I don't believe more frequent and more expensive testing when clearly unwarranted, is going to do anything to support nurses in recovery. But these programs aren't really about that anymore, are they?

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I don't know, I don't get it either. There's a rumor going round that the increase in 'special tests' are unearthing participants that were drinking. I have only met one individual who was secretly drinking in IPN. But it was her behavior that gave her away and prompted a pEth. She was caught and opted not to continue before the 'special testing' on a routine basis began. I don't personally know anyone else who has been ferreted out due to testing ingenuity.

My thoughts are: Why does it matter? I'm not doing anything anyway, so I just show up. Living in fear is not something I want to do anymore, I just do what I'm supposed to do and it all works out.

I didn't ever get the feel that this was a group that enabled active addicts/alcoholics to continue using. Questions like "what does the O panel test for?" give me that vibe.

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Specializes in Psych, Addictions, SOL (Student of Life).
I don't know, I don't get it either. There's a rumor going round that the increase in 'special tests' are unearthing participants that were drinking. I have only met one individual who was secretly drinking in IPN. But it was her behavior that gave her away and prompted a pEth. She was caught and opted not to continue before the 'special testing' on a routine basis began. I don't personally know anyone else who has been ferreted out due to testing ingenuity.

My thoughts are: Why does it matter? I'm not doing anything anyway, so I just show up. Living in fear is not something I want to do anymore, I just do what I'm supposed to do and it all works out.

I didn't ever get the feel that this was a group that enabled active addicts/alcoholics to continue using. Questions like "what does the O panel test for?" give me that vibe.

I read a post on another forum where a participant had figured out a probability algorithm (apparently he was a mathematician as well as a nurse) to determine when he could drink and "get away with it." Supposedly he had been doing it for about a year without getting caught. Still the whole story lacked a certain credibility.

Hppy

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Because I'm paying for it, that's why.

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In my mind if you are practicing total abstinance you should have no worry about what a test is for as in theory it doesn't matter because you will be clean.

Anyway just wondering

Hppy

Well why don't you keep that "in your mind" and quit worrying about everyone else's business? Just because someone wants to know what's being tested doesn't mean they're cheating. Good god. Get a life.

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Specializes in Psych, Addictions, SOL (Student of Life).
Well why don't you keep that "in your mind" and quit worrying about everyone else's business? Just because someone wants to know what's being tested doesn't mean they're cheating. Good god. Get a life.

I wasn't trying to put anyone down and I do have a life that includes working with my legislature to change the draconian nature of these programs. I am also a peer support counselor at my place of employment for nurses in the diversion/probation programs. I get asked a lot of questions but no one has ever asked me what a specific test is for. I was just wondering is all. It seemed like a strange question that could be easily answered by one's case manager. I finished my monitoring program 10 years ago and back then they weren't so ugly. Expensive yes (I took out a 2nd on my home.) but there was the sense that my CM really wanted me to be successful. I never had to do anything but UDS even when I had a false positive and my CM called me back in a timely manner whenever I called.

I understand these programs have become terribly invasive, expensive and punitive and my heart bleeds for the non-addict/Alcoholic caught up in this mess.

I am sorry if I offended you as I was just curious.

Hppy

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Because I'm paying for it, that's why.

Awfully testy, don't you think? Have fun worrying about something you are powerless over for the next 3-5 years. This isn't our first rodeo, for many of us that took the time to answer. You might not like the answers you got, but they were still answers. You should have put a ** disclaimer on your question that said 'sympathetic responses only.' The only time I ever worried about what a test was testing for was when I'd been up to no good. They don't just test alcoholics for Etoh, they don't just test opiate addicts for opiates, they don't just test weed smokers for weed. They can and will test you for anything, at anytime. So, just think of each selection as possibly Meth, Flakka, Spice, Nutmeg... wtfe.

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Well maybe YOU were up to no good, but not everyone is trying to "beat the system". My momma always said "mind your biscuits and it'll all be gravy." If someone's gonna cheat, they're gonna get caught eventually. Let that be their problem.

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Awfully testy, don't you think? Have fun worrying about something you are powerless over for the next 3-5 years. This isn't our first rodeo, for many of us that took the time to answer. You might not like the answers you got, but they were still answers. You should have put a ** disclaimer on your question that said 'sympathetic responses only.' The only time I ever worried about what a test was testing for was when I'd been up to no good. They don't just test alcoholics for Etoh, they don't just test opiate addicts for opiates, they don't just test weed smokers for weed. They can and will test you for anything, at anytime. So, just think of each selection as possibly Meth, Flakka, Spice, Nutmeg... wtfe.

Well maybe YOU were up to no good, but not everyone is trying to "beat the system". My momma always said "mind your biscuits and it'll all be gravy." If someone's gonna cheat, they're gonna get caught eventually. Let that be their problem.

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