Your monitoring program allow whipits?

allnurses Guide · Jan 16, 2016

They should teach them that the road back is considerably longer than the road they took to get where they are. No matter how far down the wrong road you've come.....STOP ..it's still the wrong road!!!

True True - but I am not talking about teaching addict or potential addicts - I am talking about nurses and physician who don't know how to talk to patient or treat the medical and psychological aspects of detox and long term treatment. After all Addicts and alcoholics are not bad people in general - they are sick people who need to get well.

I recently ran into a former patient in one of the rooms and she was celebrating 8 years! When I sought her out after to congratulate her she said If you hadn't been kind to me I think I would have jumped right back in the bottle.

Hppy

Farawyn · Jan 16, 2016

Okay, thank you. That's why I asked.

joanna73, BSN, RN · Jan 16, 2016

I think the OP enjoys starting controversial topics, and that is all, given his posting history.

RegisteredNuisance, RN · Jan 16, 2016

^^ Was about to make that same comment. This is a striking contrast between the now popular post on medical professionality of appearance. It would be interesting to add RNDynamic to your follow list, see what they post next.

canigraduate · Jan 16, 2016

After reading this poster's latest contributions, I couldn't help but think of this GIF:

a) Snorting anything is not a good idea, especially when in a recovery program that is supposed to be helping you NOT do unhealthy things to cope with your life.

b) Asking other people about it on a public forum is just asking for trouble.

c) Finally, *** was this poster thinking? Hopefully, this and the "appearance" thread are an attempt at entertainment rather than any meaningful attempt at communication.

cayenne06, MSN, CNM · Jan 16, 2016

Only an idiot would do this. Or any method to get high

Well I disagree. There's a very good reason that pretty much every culture has it's preferred mind-altering substances. Getting high feels good and presses our "reward" button. It also helps ease the pain of many mental illnesses. Most people who use drugs recreationally do not end up addicted- this is true of even the "hardest" drugs. No one can convince me that casual marijuana use is worse than casual alcohol use. Hell, casual use of *any* drug is probably safer than alcohol use! I've seen many lives ruined by drug addiction, but I also know multitudes of people who use recreationally- and they are no different from anyone else I know.

Of course drug use has great potential for harm- I am not advocating we all go out and get some cocaine! I am just pointing out that pursuing the pleasure of a high does not make someone an "idiot." It makes them human. And for those who are addicted, pursuing a high is a physiologic drive, not a reflection of their moral worth as a human. Get deep enough into opioid addiction, and you probably aren't even chasing a high anymore- you are just running from the pain of withdrawal.

If someone wants to do whipits on the weekend for some kicks, I honestly don't see the problem. The potential for harm is much, much lower than many socially sanctioned activities. But we are talking about an RN in a recovery program- trying to figure out how to game the system is a humongous red flag. If you can't maintain sobriety with the threat of your livelihood hanging over you, then you have a drug problem and are, by definition, not a casual user.

Drug addiction sucks, OP. You have my sympathy. I hope you are able to reach out and get the support you need to achieve and maintain sobriety.

catsmeow1972, BSN, RN · Jan 16, 2016

I don't for a minute believe that this was a serious question. Given the existence of some of the dumbest restrictions on the planet that are in these contracts (12step meetings for a participant with a mental health issue and no addiction history) and the fact that participants are well educated highly skilled professionals who have to ask for approval to take anything besides an aspirin, I think the existence of the kind of person who even wonders if another method of getting high would be okay is exactly why those of us who want only for this contract nightmare to end so we can get on with our lives are tortured for seemingly ever with irrelevant and inappropriate rules.

Elle23 · Jan 17, 2016

Am I the only one who now can't get the song "Whip it" by Devo out of my head?

kbrn2002, ADN, RN · Jan 17, 2016

Am I the only one who now can't get the song "Whip it" by Devo out of my head?

Not anymore..so thanks a lot [insert sarcasm font here].

allnurses Guide · Jan 17, 2016

I say Whip It! Whip It Good

Tenebrae, BSN, RN · Jan 17, 2016

Farawyn,
Thanks for the shout out of support - there is a saying in the 12-step rooms that "Normies just don't get it!" I don't as a rule get offended when Normies make insensitive remarks about addiction. I think they are extraordinarily fortunate to have never experienced the "NEED" to get outside their own skin by any means possible. Though I have been sober for a long time and work a very strong program of recovery it is still a daily fight.
What I really wish would happen is that nursing schools and Med schools for that matter would spend more than approximately 7 hours teaching about addiction/dependence and that nurses in the clinical setting could show a bit more compassion for those who suffer from this disease.
Hppy

I'll support a you to the cows come home. Addiction is an evil nasty disease that i liken to a dog who thinks its out taking its master for a walk but soon realizes it has a choke chain on which the master doesn't mind using.

My name is Tenebrae, I'm an addict. Prescription meds in my case. And about 8 years clean. You know how I stay clean, hard work every single damm day. It involves telling any new health professional i meet for do not under any circumstances prescribe me any of these medications. I work on the idea that if I tell the doctor when I'm in a good place, when it comes to being in a bad place and quite at risk of picking up and using again eg back injury and the doctor wants to prescribe some diazepam to stop the back spasms.

And if it gets really bad, I'll go to a meeting.

Like I said, I'll support you to the cows come home. If you come to me and tell me something like this, I'll slap you upside the head for being such an idiot and probably drag you to a meeting. It may only be NO, its still something. I know for myself unless I absolutely abstain, it has the potential to open the door to other using.

And I do hear you about nursing schools doing precious little about teaching of addiction and mental health issues. I think we had a six week paper, with 5-6 three hour lectures on the basic categories of mental illness and with no focus on alcohol and drug dependency.

And yes, nurses can be very judgmental about addiction. I recall as a student a patient who had a hx of alcohol dependency. This person was in a hell of alot of pain from arterial ulcers. The response from the nurses was 'they dont need it, they're fine". Fortunately as a student I could pull the whole 'yea but they are rating their pain 11/10 and I checked their chart and they havent had any for the last day" earnest student face. The difference when this patient was in pain and properly medicated was huge.

StillRN · Jan 18, 2016

Question to the OP.. you said you are in a monitoring program. . . What state are in? Most programs don't allow you to work as a float or in the ICU while in monitoring. How did you get around that? How are you able to pass narc's?