I've looked into it, and there is most definitely no random drug testing of nurses here, and know for a fact that my friend was never tested. The nurses union holds huge sway locally, and they absolutely oppose testing, and it therefore almost never happens. I looked into the rules and regulations of nursing, and not only her substance abuse, but also her significant mental health issues would deem her unfit for nursing. These were both issues that were pre-existing before she was certified, and though questions were asked (and lies were answered) there is not drug testing done.
She definitely gets high before going to work.
She is both suicidal and potentially physically violent (she physically attacked me once before when she was off her perscribed meds and acting irrationally), which makes confrontation very risky. Though she is a smart and lovely person in many respects, she is my SO's friend more than mine and probably wouldn't be in my life if the choice were mine. I've strongly encouraged her to tell those providing her with psychiatric care that she is abusing drugs but she's yet to do so. I've spoken to her on a rational level about how the medications perscribed to her could easily interact with the drugs she is abusing, and that her psychiatrist should know this to treat her properly. She agrees with me (she's a nurse after all), but hasn't told him - probably because he knows what profession she's in, and she knows what the fall out would be. I've even gone so far as to pointing out that her paranoia, which is part of a myriad of psychological problems she has, could easily spring from the daily use of pot for decades, which she denies. The main issue is that she doesn't see her drug abuse as a problem, and believes she would have killed herself long ago if it weren't for it's presence in her life, and to be honest, I don't disagree with this. I do however, think that she made the wrong career choice given all these factors. Then again, she's worked so hard, and manged to make a career for herself in spite of huge obstacles, and it would be tragic for her to lose the footing she has made...
To be totally honest, I spent 22 years caring for (and I don't doubt enabling) my mentally ill mother, and I'm not interested in taking on another "case." I tend to attract damaged people since I have a deep understanding of their nature, but then the fall out is so very hard on me. I don't want the chaos in my life that would result from me getting involved - I've heard from her own mouth how destructive and scary my friend can be toward others she blames for the problems she's often responsible for. I also feel a sense of emotional integrity that keeps me from simply report her behind her back, along with a lot of anger that those who should have caught this - i.e. those involved in the certification process, those who employ her now, those who've provided her with psychiatric care - have failed. To be totally honest, the only way I can see myself doing anything without being personally harmed would be through an anonymous tip-off, but isn't that just selgiraffe, weaselly and weak?
Also, cats.
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Topic: linnea's bad little cats almost died from their badness (Read 15231 times)