Nursing Law & Order

Weed is the New & Final Frontier, Not Space!

I apologize but I need to "mess up the rotation." This is line is from Friday, the cult classic movie with Chris Tucker and Ice Cube. Puff, Puff, Give is the rotation with respect to smoking marijuana in a two or more person set-up. . http://www.imdb.com/character/ch0011184/quotes. I love the movie Friday! 

I am attending a webinar in August sponsored by the Ohio State Bar Association titled "Is the Grass Really Greener? Workplace Implications of Medical Marijuana." 

https://www.ohiobar.org/NewsAndPublications/News/OSBANews/Pages/5-things-employers-should-know-about-Ohios-medical-marijuana-law.aspx

I do not smoke marijuana and even if it legal in Ohio for WHATEVER purpose and to use by WHATEVER route (eating, inhaling, injecting, etc.) I will not use marijuana. I already have enough problems and weed will not be one of my issues. We all struggle with something and if you deny having a vice, whether it is sex, drugs, alcohol, gambling, gaming, social media, electronic devices, food/gluttony, gossip, exercise/fitness, work/career, etc., you are not being honest with yourself.   

The Tabletalk magazine for August 2016 focuses on Addiction from a Christian and Calvinistic theology perspective. http://www.ligonier.org/tabletalk/. This is an excellent read. 

If you are a licensed healthcare professional and you smoke weed, please stop the rotation. All it takes is a random UDS or a pre-employment UDS..... Ask yourself why you are smoking weed, self-medicating, and get to the root of the issue with self-reflection, professional counseling, and medical treatment if needed. You know what you do and if you need help, please get help before it becomes a workplace, license, and legal matter. It is so much more easier to deal with these issues proactively before the stuff hits the fan. 

Also medical marijuana laws or casual use marijuana laws cannot provide a safe harbor for licensed nurses. You cannot come to work impaired or intoxicated from any substance/drug/medication, legal or illegal and provide safe nursing care to patients. It is a violation of professional standards of practice and your State Practice Act/Regulations.

Marijuana use/abuse is the real deal now and a positive UDS for marijuana is investigated by State Nursing Boards. Why? It is a violation of your State Nursing Practice Act to test positive for an illegal drug. If you test positive for an illicit drug, an employer or prospective employer may report to the State Nursing Board.  I am interviewing for home health RN positions in Cincinnati, Ohio and I will also have to submit to a UDS soon. I do not use illicit drugs and I take vitamins and OTC medication.  

I practice law in Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana. If we get weed laws in Ohio, Kentucky, or Indiana, I am going to further limit my law practice to representing nurses in weed cases. Weed, not Space, I postulate without any evidence, will be the Final Frontier. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6R3MiAv9ac. Can I specialize in weed law? Maybe the Ohio State Bar Association, Kentucky Bar Association, or Indiana State Bar Association will develop an attorney specialization for weed law. 

Here is general advice to all nurses in any state if you are licensed nurse, do not drink alcohol, smoke crack, inject heroin, snort cocaine, puff, puff, pass marijuana or ingest any illicit or even prescribed medication which alters your mental, physical, or cognitive capacities before reporting to work or at work.  Yes, you have to be careful taking any prescription medication before you report to work or while you are at work as a licensed nurse. Why? Are you safe to practice? You should not be at work if you are hung over, high, under the influence, groggy, dazed, dizzy, in a mental fog from meds, etc. 

Of course, there is a difference between being an allegation of reporting to work impaired/intoxicated as nurse and "just" having a substance present in your system. But let me ask you, do you really want to spend the time, money, emotional energy and mental exertion/frustration to deal with the license, workplace, and career implications of sorting between the two in a given situation? Can you say legal headache? 

Also you should see the New Star Trek movie, Start Trek Beyond. It was awesome! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Trek_Beyond. 

 

Please Baby Please: Purchase an Individual Professional Liability Insurance Policy with a License Defense Benefit

If you have not done so already, please baby please, purchase a professional liability insurance policy with a license defense benefit today. 

I am transitioning back into hands on nursing practice soon here in Cincinnati. I will be working part-time as a RN in home health or hospice, part-time as a solo practitioner in private law practice, and part-time at the new Freddy's Frozen Custard on Winton Road. https://freddysusa.com/store/cincinnati-winton-rd/

My goal has always been to practice law and practice nursing and I miss hands on nursing care. I have interviewed with several home health companies here in Cincinnati and I will be starting a position next month. I plan to start per diem and work a few days a week in addition to practicing law.

I have been in private practice for 15 years and I turned 45 years old this month. I am not having another mid-life crisis but just trying to transition back into the traditional workplace a few days out of the week. I am looking at doing a combination of things for the next couple of years: defending nurses, providing patient care, project legal work, etc. just to mix things up. 

I said that to say that I need to purchase my own professional liability insurance policy with a license defense benefit. Call me bias because of TAANA but I will purchase a policy with Nursing Service Organization (NSO). http://www.nso.com/

I am not getting paid to NSO, NSO, NSO but I like the benefits offered with its policies. I am not telling you to purchase NSO insurance but you should have a policy with an insurer familiar with nursing malpractice as well as Nursing Board defense claims.  

https://www.amazon.com/Please-Baby-Classic-Board-Books/dp/1416949119

Baby please baby, please purchase YOUR OWN liability insurance policy with a nurse license defense benefit. 

Board Investigators and Compliance Agents are NOT contacting you to play Pat-A-Cake!

What is Pat-a-Cake? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pat-a-cake,_pat-a-cake,_baker%27s_man

Do you know how to patty cake? If not, see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yULp0Vnzblc

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You receive an email from "Agent Smith" with State XY Board of Nursing who wants to speak with you immediately.

You are nervous, getting anxious and don't know how to proceed. Do you call Agent Smith now? Do you respond to Agent Smith's email? It is only 5pm, so do you meet with Agent Smith at 7am tomorrow morning at your local library as requested? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agent_Smith

If you are called, emailed, or receive written correspondence from a State Nursing Board Compliance Agent, Certified Nurse Investigator, or Investigator, you need to consider the following before you respond:

 

1. Should you speak with a license defense attorney first?
2.  Do you have professional liability insurance with a license defense protection benefit? If so, you should contact your insurance company for assistance on how to proceed?
3. Why is the investigator contacting you? What happened? Start collecting your thoughts now so that you can be prepared to speak with an attorney, your insurer, or your mother about how to proceed. 

Really put some thought into how you want to proceed instead of acting on impulse and instinct in these situations. Don't have money to retain a lawyer? Try paying for a telephone consultation with the attorney. 

A State Nursing Board Compliance Agent or Certified Investigator conversation is not the same as speaking with a cashier from the self-check out at Walmart. You are the subject of a licensing board complaint. The conversation is more formal and the process is adversarial, although you may or may not realize it! Agent Smith is not calling you to patty cake!!