Quoted: A Cautionary Tale (Substance abuse)

[Doodledog]

Tildy's note before posting:

I expect this post to elicit some strong reactions. Please remember the rules of this forum related to not posting unhelpful comments for the OP (which is not to say that all responses must be "positive"). Also, I suspect that some may wish to anonymously post their own experiences. You can do so by indicating in your response that you wish it to be anonymous, by PMing it to me, or if you must, by creating an account for that purpose.

Now, here's the post/question:

Hi,
I was an RN for 10 years, primarily working in critical care - specifically ER for many years. I have knocked around the idea of medical school for many years on and off. Life, however, always creeps into our plans of course. I supported my estranged husbands dreams and failing business because I loved him. I stayed in nursing and didn't work toward an advancement to MD because nursing certainly does one thing for many women and men, and that is: it brings home the bacon.

Let's cut to the chase. My husband left me for a coworker of his, and I began using opiates, quickly moving up the dummy scale to Dilaudid. I lost my license after several months and am extremely lucky it was not my life. I could make excuses, but there are none. I paid for it with my license.

I am clean 6 months now and miss the hospital terribly. I realize that I shouldnt be in the position of narcotic administration any time soon, if ever.

My question for you fine ladies and gentlemen is this: If I were to start working toward a medical degree (it would be probably 2 years or better before the point of taking MCATs) would I even be considered for residency given my history? Is this something that is unforgivable in the medical community altogether? The experiences I have had with state nursing boards is grim: offering no rehab or councelling, basically taking my license then telling me to shove off and enjoy my new life as a waitress after I detox in my bathroom at home.

I guess I hope that I didn't mess up so badly that I'll never be able to work with patients again. Can anyone offer some insight?

Lastly I just wanted to offer you all some sage advice: don't EVER think you are so strong, so competent, that the needle cannot find you. I used to be one of those people horrified by nurses turned addicts, and I couldn't understand why or how. I never would have dreamed in my worst nightmares 3 years ago that I would be shooting dilaudid in a hospital bathroom just to end the stomach cramps and sweats so I could complete a 16 hour shift. Keep this little nugget in the back of your brain throughout your days as a caregiver. No one is immune.

Thanks so much,

a former trauma nurse team leader at a major trauma center

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Tired Pigeon]

I'm not sure about specific med school admissions rules - perhaps you could speak to admissions offices anonymously just to get an idea of their attitude toward this? I do know a number of docs who have had similar problems and are still practicing (after completing successful rehab and, of course, remaining clean). I believe they are subject to a bit more oversight (drug testing? restrictions on narcotics access? other limitations maybe) but they're still practicing and seeing patients every day. So it seems the medical profession is not entirely 'unforgiving' where issues of substance problems are concerned. However, these people were already docs at the time their problems came to light. Not sure how this perceived air of tolerance would apply to med school applicants.

When you do get to the point of applying, I think it's important to be up front about the difficulties you've overcome. This is the kind of thing that could come back to bite you in the *ss if you tried to cover it up. Be honest about the difficulties you've faced, how hard you've worked to overcome them, and what steps you continue to take to make sure you don't relapse (counseling? support groups?).

Your sound like a very sincere person who overcame a really difficult situation. I hope you make it, and good luck to you.

 

[D5W]

Thanks for sharing your story.. I'm really sorry you had to go through all of that. A few things for you to consider are
1 - Checking with the National Board of Medical Examiners to make sure that if you do get into medical school you will qualify for a medical license (some licensing boards put restrictions on individuals who have been revoked of professional licenses in the past)
2 - If medical school doesn't work out, you seem like you would have a lot to offer rehab/detox patients so you might try exploring ways to become a drug abuse counsiler/therapist. You'd still be working with patients!
God bless

 

[45408]

Your post touches on a lot of different things, so I don't have any specific information on if you can be licensed as an MD if your RN license was revoked under those circumstances, but we had a series of lectures on substance abuse in our M2 psychiatry course, and near the end of the last lecture, the psychiatrist giving the lectures mentioned that he occasionally tells his patients about his own substance abuse history. He had once been an anesthesiologist who went down the same road you did. He was caught, and I don't know the whole turn of events, but he was able to do a psychiatry residency and remain in medicine. I'm pretty sure he can't prescribe narcotics, so there's definitely a place for someone with a previous history. Good luck!

And make sure you have a good support network so that this doesn't happen again! The longer you stay clean, the more likely it would be that you can get back to doing what you love.

 

[RugbyJC]

That's a very powerful story and I wish I had some concrete answers for you, but I do not. I have a few anecdotes, but none of this information will probably do anything more than serve as encouragement.

The first is a conversation I had yesterday with a neurologist. A friend and I were sharing stories of all the "bad a**" stuff we did in our lives and when she said, "I got arrested..." the neurologist overheard and was like, "wait, wait! I need to hear this too. tell me all about it. don't worry, prostitution is legal in some states so you can still get your medical lisence," (trying to be funny) and then she tells about her possession arrests and then he tells about his. He said after the conversation that as long as you do not try to get a lisence in the state that you were arrested in or the state where you lose your lisence, you should be fine. How true is this statement? I don't know, but he seemed pretty sure of it.

The other story involves a classmate's father who was an anesthesiologist and then started stealing narcotics on the job. He was caught, lost his lisence, and then years later was able to get it back. I don't know the timing of this, but both of these accounts (and the ones above) I guess help to show that medicine can be a forgiving field and perhaps it will work that way in your situation.

I do know for sure that my undergrad application and probably my med school one asked if I had ever been convicted of a felony. A friend of mine had to check "yes" for this option, and it was questioned, but since she was arrested for protesting or something, it was a non-issue. I also have friends with felonies who simply checked the "no" box--not that this was right, but it never caught up with either.

Regardless, good luck to you. I hope everything works out in your favor.

 

[nu2004]

this is a heavy post... i often worry about my own feeling of invulnerability.

thumbs up for you, though, sounds like you really want to get your life back on track.

 

[Wanna_B_Scutty]

2 - If medical school doesn't work out, you seem like you would have a lot to offer rehab/detox patients so you might try exploring ways to become a drug abuse counsiler/therapist. You'd still be working with patients!
God bless

I don't know anything about the legality issues wrt licensing. However, if your past hx turns out to be too much of a barrier, the idea posted above also sounds excellent for someone in your situation-- truly making lemonade out of lemons.

Good luck to you.