Nurse Asked to Buy My Vicodin

Options
1…34689…11

Replies

  • cmcorn26
    cmcorn26 Posts: 253 Member
    Options
    Tell the physician, call the state board of nursing.
  • alettep
    alettep Posts: 56 Member
    Options
    It is illegal to sell or even give medication that has been prescribed to you to someone else. It is completely unethical & illegal for a nurse to want to buy them, whatever the reason may be. I completely agree that this needs to be reported either to the board of nursing or the supervisor of office you were at. To the one that said find "find a new doctor"~that is silly, they probably have no idea that their nurse did that & certainly doesn't mean you don't have a good physician! I can totally understand that this would shock you into not having a quick response! As a nurse also I agree completely that this should be reported!
  • sizzle92
    sizzle92 Posts: 1,015 Member
    Options
    Wow! I go out for an hour or so to buy a Nexus 7 for my daughter and look what happens! You mean this is for real?!
    Gosh! I've been in Practice for 40 years and I've heard of such a thing. I've led a sheltered existence, clearly.

    So, maybe the next time a patient asks me to dispose of some surplus medication for them I'd better think twice before helping them.

    Would you really have a Health Care Complementary Professional behave this way over there?

    I apologise profusely to the original poster for doubting the integrity of this thread - When I went out I was beginning to expect the sound of goat hooves going over the bridge.

    Are you kidding me? I am having a hard time even understanding your post but are you saying in 40 years in medicine you have never seen this? The nurse didn't offer to dispose of the meds for her.......she asked to (illegally) purchase them. Just last month alone we lost 2 nurses to this type of activity. They are both in prison now. I MUST be misunderstanding your post. In my 15 years I have seen 5 cases. And I know there are many others!
  • peachNpunkin
    peachNpunkin Posts: 1,010 Member
    Options
    Taking all assumptions out of the conversation here. I am a nurse, and it is unethical, immoral, and illegal as hell to by a narcotic substance without a prescription. If you are sick, have pain, or any other problem go to the damn doctor and get your meds legally.

    As for that nurse, I pray to god that she doesn't kill someone or harm someone permanantly making an error while intoxicated.
    It's very simple. She took an oath as a medical professional to take care of the sick and not cause further harm. She needs to be reported. It will not ruin her life, it will get her help. Now if she fails to take the board's advice and take the help (which is usually free) she will then lose her license to practice.
  • beansprouts
    beansprouts Posts: 410 Member
    Options
    Tell the physician, call the state board of nursing.

    The nurse is just going to say that she suspected the patient of drug dealing...In any event you can bet that in the future...the doctor is going to be extra, extra careful about dispensing pain killing opiates to OP...OP should have just denied having any extra pills left over when first approached by the nurse (or anybody else).
  • krazyforyou
    krazyforyou Posts: 1,428 Member
    Options
    Since I am an RN you need to report this to your doctor who gave you the vicodin. Should be addressed ASAP!!!
  • mgobluetx12
    mgobluetx12 Posts: 1,326 Member
    Options
    I'm definitely worried about the 'my word against hers' thing. I am thinking I will report it to the clinic anonymously, but that may not give it much merit. I don't know her last name, so I'm not sure if I can report her to the board of nursing just by first name and clinic info. The weird thing is, I told them the vicodin wasn't working, so they prescribed me MORE this month. Maybe I should find a new doctor.

    Edit - I already said that I was too shocked at the situation to come up with a good excuse on the fly, but I did tell her the pills weren't working and I stopped taking them, so it was obvious I had some left over.
  • hughtwalker
    hughtwalker Posts: 2,213 Member
    Options
    Wow! I go out for an hour or so to buy a Nexus 7 for my daughter and look what happens! You mean this is for real?!
    Gosh! I've been in Practice for 40 years and I've heard of such a thing. I've led a sheltered existence, clearly.

    So, maybe the next time a patient asks me to dispose of some surplus medication for them I'd better think twice before helping them.

    Would you really have a Health Care Complementary Professional behave this way over there?

    I apologise profusely to the original poster for doubting the integrity of this thread - When I went out I was beginning to expect the sound of goat hooves going over the bridge.

    Are you kidding me? I am having a hard time even understanding your post but are you saying in 40 years in medicine you have never seen this? The nurse didn't offer to dispose of the meds for her.......she asked to (illegally) purchase them. Just last month alone we lost 2 nurses to this type of activity. They are both in prison now. I MUST be misunderstanding your post. In my 15 years I have seen 5 cases. And I know there are many others!
    I will try to explain - 1. I went out for an hour or so and when I got back there were 3 - if not 4 - more pages of responses.
    2. Yes, I am saying that in 40 years in general dental practice I have never encountered such a thing. Obviously my General Medical Practitioner has been either more careful or just more fortunate in his staff selection and so have I.
    3. In an earlier response I asked if it was April yet - (as in April Fool's Day) - for which doubt I apologised - (Thomas is my middle name).
    5. and, finally, in the story of 'The Billy Goats Gruff' the Troll sits under his (wooden) bridge until he hears the hoof beats.

    I should mention that over here, DF118 is the most narcotic drug that dentists can prescribe so I am very unlikely to have encountered such practice in my own surgery environment, which may be why I am so surprised that you are surprised that I was.
  • beansprouts
    beansprouts Posts: 410 Member
    Options
    I'm definitely worried about the 'my word against hers' thing. I am thinking I will report it to the clinic anonymously, but that may not give it much merit. I don't know her last name, so I'm not sure if I can report her to the board of nursing just by first name and clinic info. The weird thing is, I told them the vicodin wasn't working, so they prescribed me MORE this month. Maybe I should find a new doctor.

    Edit - I already said that I was too shocked at the situation to come up with a good excuse on the fly, but I did tell her the pills weren't working and I stopped taking them, so it was obvious I had some left over.

    Listen...do yourself a favor and REPORT THE CLINIC. (IF) the doctor knew that the drug was not working for you...there is no way that the doctor should have been prescribing MORE of a controlled substance (unless) he was (a) in on the deceit or (b) a victim of the nurse's treachery. I think that you should tell the authorities exactly what happened to you at that clinic and let them sort it all out.
  • FlaxMilk
    FlaxMilk Posts: 3,452 Member
    Options
    I'm definitely worried about the 'my word against hers' thing. I am thinking I will report it to the clinic anonymously, but that may not give it much merit. I don't know her last name, so I'm not sure if I can report her to the board of nursing just by first name and clinic info. The weird thing is, I told them the vicodin wasn't working, so they prescribed me MORE this month. Maybe I should find a new doctor.

    Edit - I already said that I was too shocked at the situation to come up with a good excuse on the fly, but I did tell her the pills weren't working and I stopped taking them, so it was obvious I had some left over.

    You don't have to worry about your word versus her's. Call the state board, tell them what you know, and they will take it from there. They will be able to obtain her last name. You also did the right thing by not lying--lying and saying you had none left over when you said they didn't work would make you look suspicious. Even if the nurse does try to say she suspects you of drug dealing, she has no evidence of that, and that still does not excuse her from trying to buy them from you. If she suspected you of that, she should have pointed you to a drug disposal program and then had a conversation with your doctor about not prescribing more for you, not offered to buy them. She's not a police officer. It's not her job to investigate you or try to bust you. So that would be a ludicrous argument for her to make.

    I would consider getting a different MD after this, not because your doctor did anything wrong, but because of any discomfort you may feel or because of any unconscious bias from the clinic. If you are really uncomfortable, you can always make an anonymous report.
  • FlaxMilk
    FlaxMilk Posts: 3,452 Member
    Options
    Tell the physician, call the state board of nursing.

    The nurse is just going to say that she suspected the patient of drug dealing...In any event you can bet that in the future...the doctor is going to be extra, extra careful about dispensing pain killing opiates to OP...OP should have just denied having any extra pills left over when first approached by the nurse (or anybody else).

    Healthcare professionals are very watchful in these situations and can run reports on prescriptions filled; it's better not to lie to your healthcare staff about what you're doing with these pills. Had she told them she didn't have anymore, she could have been more suspected of either dealing or abusing them.
  • nursenae1
    nursenae1 Posts: 40 Member
    Options
    Also I'm nurse...she truely needs to be reported
  • nursenae1
    nursenae1 Posts: 40 Member
    Options
    Needs to be reported to facility ..AS WELL AS....board of nursing...
    You would not believe how some facilities sweep situations they
    are aware of
  • trixirn
    trixirn Posts: 130 Member
    Options
    I have 4 degenerated discs in my lower back and am on pretty heavy opiates for the pain. Last month, my doc gave me some 10mg vicodin for breakthrough pain I've been having from exercising. I went to the doc for the monthly checkup on Wednesday and the nurse asked how the vicodin was working. I said it really wasn't, so I stopped taking it. She then asked me if she could buy the leftovers from me. I was SHOCKED. I couldn't believe she was asking me this.

    What would you have done in this situation?
    As a nurse myself I am pretty disgusted by this. You need to report her immediately.
  • monicalosesweight
    monicalosesweight Posts: 1,173 Member
    Options
    Jeepers...report her and just say you got her information to prove she was trying to buy them from you. After all, how could you get that information unless she gave it to you! It's not a matter of you're getting into trouble - unless you've been selling her pills which is a whole other story. It's not that tough. You can easily state you never intended to give them to her you just wanted to see if she was willing to go that far and she did so now you have to report it. Contact the doctor OR the who ever is in charge of nursing in your state.

    Think of it this way, this nurse is responsible for the health of patients, you risk their lives by not calling and asking to speak to the doctor. You also have to consider the fact that if she's addicted, she most likely has a medical issue (and an addiction) that needs to be taken care of and she may be stealing the samples given to the doctor by the pharmaceutical representatives. This is no minor matter. She's not your best friend - she's a nurse and needs to be held accountable for her behavior. Also, if she's in the early stages, there is a chance you could be saving her life by doing the right thing.

    Doing the right thing may be hard - but sometimes - you have to do it!

    Monica
  • Italiano7
    Italiano7 Posts: 382 Member
    Options
    As a retired nurse, I have seen so many nurses get hooked on drug's-especially the painkillers. Our job's a very intense physically-especially if we work in a hospital setting. But, it sounds like you say her in a clinic, or at an office.

    Believe me when I say, you do not want a nurse giving you/your family/your CHILDREN/ or anyone else, when she is impaired on drugs.
    Nursing is a very detail oriented job. If she under the influence at work, and she makes a medication error-that could cost someone their life.
    We have to preform very intricate mathematical conversions at times, and those are easy to error with, even when you are just tired, much less impaired on drugs.
    Find your states BOARD of NURSING office, and REPORT HER. You have no idea of how many accident's you would prevent if you take this simple step.

    She most likely will not be fired. They (The Board of Nursing) have program's for nurses who have substance abuse problems. GIVE HER A CHANCE.
    I LITERALLY BEG YOU..
    TURN HER IN, if not to the BOARD, to the Physician she is working under.
    Sincerely,
    Sister Nicolette Eberle, R.N. (retired)



    I am also a nurse and this is soo true:( Unfortunately. I agree with Nicolette-turn her in.
  • juliecat1
    juliecat1 Posts: 3,455 Member
    Options
    Addiction amongst medical staff is a lot more common than you might think. You need to report it.
  • alettep
    alettep Posts: 56 Member
    Options
    I would not worry about your words against hers....facilities should check into the matter fully regardless. Our facility had to join the realm of random drug testing or will test on suspicion in the last couple of years due to growing addiction issues hitting the medical field. It is a serious issue that needs to be addressed. If the doctor gave more Vicodin, which you hadn't used & told him you were not taking, maybe it is time to find someone who listens!
  • beansprouts
    beansprouts Posts: 410 Member
    Options
    Tell the physician, call the state board of nursing.

    The nurse is just going to say that she suspected the patient of drug dealing...In any event you can bet that in the future...the doctor is going to be extra, extra careful about dispensing pain killing opiates to OP...OP should have just denied having any extra pills left over when first approached by the nurse (or anybody else).

    Healthcare professionals are very watchful in these situations and can run reports on prescriptions filled; it's better not to lie to your healthcare staff about what you're doing with these pills. Had she told them she didn't have anymore, she could have been more suspected of either dealing or abusing them.

    Health care professionals are not the only ones keeping track of those drug prescriptions...Narcotics agents also keep track of them too. Some of those clinics are little more than legal drug houses being run by "respectable" medical personnel. Some of those "professional" make more money selling legal drugs then they make from their regular paychecks. In some inner city health facilities, it is not at all unusual to have an in house agent monitoring what they believe to be suspicious patients. (Because medical professionals also know how to cover their own behinds).

    If the "nurse" felt free to ask OP about buying her "extra pills" (that the clinic dispensed knowing that OP did not need them)...then OP had every right to to tell the nurse that she had NO EXTRA PILLS ...When the crap hits the fan...It is always better to have the authorities looking for missing drugs down at that clinic then to have them looking for them down at OP's or other innocent patient's houses.and yes...OP should report the incident. Nine times out of ten...The nurse is going to say what I told you...and the Doctor (when asked why he gave OP more pills) is going to say that it was a misunderstanding..ie. He thought that OP needed a higher dosage of her medicine. I repeat...REPORT THE FACILITY.!
  • WendyTerry420
    WendyTerry420 Posts: 13,274 Member
    Options
    Tell the physician, call the state board of nursing.

    The nurse is just going to say that she suspected the patient of drug dealing...In any event you can bet that in the future...the doctor is going to be extra, extra careful about dispensing pain killing opiates to OP...OP should have just denied having any extra pills left over when first approached by the nurse (or anybody else).

    Healthcare professionals are very watchful in these situations and can run reports on prescriptions filled; it's better not to lie to your healthcare staff about what you're doing with these pills. Had she told them she didn't have anymore, she could have been more suspected of either dealing or abusing them.

    I also know of chronic pain patients who got kicked out of their pain management program for not taking their prescribed regimen. The drug war hits us at all sides.

Categories