Hi, I am usually pretty quiet in the Aspie community. I am a nurse who came to work in rural Alaska. I normally take two meds ,one for depression and one for the OCD type thinking and behaviors I have. The doctors here had never heard of Aspergers and indeed did think I was making the whole thing up. They refused to give me one of my meds, the one for the obsessive thinking. I told one of them he should increase the other med then as I would become very anxious without the other. He refused that also. I was also bullied by my coworkers and some of the doctors. Over time I deteriorated to the point of a meltdown. I am also an addict because for years doctors could not diagnose the medical problems I had which are associated with Aspergers, so they just gave me pain meds. I flipped out and took narcotics from the lock up. The board of nursing says I did it to get caught on purpose and get out of there. The DA is treating this like the crime of the century. Today I stood up in court and refused the plea agreement because it was BS. I asked for a trial. The DA, judge and my public defender are all mad at me. I now have a new attorney and I need information about expert witnesses, especially any in Alaska(which I doubt exist). Interesting to note, the judge made the comment that he thought my behavior was odd. I said, I just told you I am autistic, hello. Thank you.
Hi, I am usually pretty quiet in the Aspie community. I am a nurse who came to work in rural Alaska. I normally take two meds ,one for depression and one for the OCD type thinking and behaviors I have. The doctors here had never heard of Aspergers and indeed did think I was making the whole thing up. They refused to give me one of my meds, the one for the obsessive thinking. I told one of them he should increase the other med then as I would become very anxious without the other. He refused that also.
How long ago did that happen? Could you change doctors? Did the effect of not having the meds you were used to affect you immediately before you stole the meds? If it was an immediate cause and effect, it can make a difference.
I was also bullied by my coworkers and some of the doctors. Over time I deteriorated to the point of a meltdown.
Can you make a separate complaint about that against the hospital?
I am also an addict because for years doctors could not diagnose the medical problems I had which are associated with Aspergers, so they just gave me pain meds. I flipped out and took narcotics from the lock up.
That is a very big problem, especially in your job. What amount did you steal and how strong was the medication? Did you have the pain medication for pain? If you knew you were addicted you should have sought treatment for that separately, and even though it would be difficult, you should have informed your work, as you were in a position to be sorely tempted and this could have been prevented. Do you have a union?
The board of nursing says I did it to get caught on purpose and get out of there.
Ignore what they say, as they are obviously not sympathetic.
The DA is treating this like the crime of the century.
There are very serious crimes associated with nurses and doctors stealing medication, so they do need to be concerned. Did you think it would be treated the same as stealing an item from a shop?
Today I stood up in court and refused the plea agreement because it was BS. I asked for a trial.
Good for you, that is your right, and if you accept a plea bargain without the truth being heard, you could really regret it.
The DA, judge and my public defender are all mad at me.
Let them be, you need to defend your rights.
I now have a new attorney and I need information about expert witnesses, especially any in Alaska(which I doubt exist). Interesting to note, the judge made the comment that he thought my behavior was odd. I said, I just told you I am autistic, hello. Thank you.
I will try and find anyone who knows anything about AS in alaska and let you know.
So far the only resource I can find are for parents (typical), this is the email info for 2 women who run such a support group, but the children must be being diagnosed by someone in the area, so you could try and email them ask who is the diagnostician -
Contact:
Co-Facilitator
Brenda Ross
Director, Special Education
Parent Resource Center
Ross_Brenda@msmail.asd.K12.ak.us
or,
Co-Facilitator
Peggy Sandberg at ksand@alaska.net
How long ago did that happen? Could you change doctors? Did the effect of not having the meds you were used to affect you immediately before you stole the meds? If it was an immediate cause and effect, it can make a difference.
This happened a couple months ago. There are only a few doctors here,this is bush alaska. The effect of not having the meds had an immediate effect,but the decline over time was the biggest problem. The med also helps the pain of my interstitial cystitiis and other painful problems as well as the OCD etc.
I was also bullied by my coworkers and some of the doctors. Over time I deteriorated to the point of a meltdown.
Can you make a separate complaint about that against the hospital?
We plan civil action for malpractice and harrashment. There were several people abused by them and perhaps in a group we will have more power.
I am also an addict because for years doctors could not diagnose the medical problems I had which are associated with Aspergers, so they just gave me pain meds. I flipped out and took narcotics from the lock up.
That is a very big problem, especially in your job. What amount did you steal and how strong was the medication? Did you have the pain medication for pain? If you knew you were addicted you should have sought treatment for that separately, and even though it would be difficult, you should have informed your work, as you were in a position to be sorely tempted and this could have been prevented. Do you have a union?
I can not address some of these questions. I have had treatment, but did have to take some pain meds that triggered the disease to become active. You sound like a person who knows little about addiction. This is not how the brain of an actively addicted person works. Of course there is no union, these are US nurses.
The board of nursing says I did it to get caught on purpose and get out of there.
Ignore what they say, as they are obviously not sympathetic.
They are very sympathetic, one in every five nurses is an addict. Most of us are from alcoholic families, no one else would do this work.
The DA is treating this like the crime of the century.
There are very serious crimes associated with nurses and doctors stealing medication, so they do need to be concerned. Did you think it would be treated the same as stealing an item from a shop?
More elightened states do not charge us with crimes. Instead they have a process of rehabilitation, otherwise 1/5 of the already shrinking nurse force would be gone. Of course we would hate for the police and the DA to spend their time trying to find out what has happened to the multiple peopke who have disapeared from Nome.
Today I stood up in court and refused the plea agreement because it was BS. I asked for a trial.
Good for you, that is your right, and if you accept a plea bargain without the truth being heard, you could really regret it.
I may regret it anyway, but this is not just for me. It is also for the Inuit people who take what ever the court dishes out here because they think they have no alternative. It is also for any other autistics in the community who are harrashed.
The DA, judge and my public defender are all mad at me.
Let them be, you need to defend your rights.
The Judge said my behavior was odd, I said, I just told you I am autistic, hello.
I now have a new attorney and I need information about expert witnesses, especially any in Alaska(which I doubt exist). Interesting to note, the judge made the comment that he thought my behavior was odd. I said, I just told you I am autistic, hello. Thank you.
I will try and find anyone who knows anything about AS in alaska and let you know.[/quote]I need to find a psychiatrist who specializes in adult aspergers, but I doubt there is one in alaska, will probably have to go to seattle.
Thanks
Thank you, I sent emails, but I really think there is no one here.
So far the only resource I can find are for parents (typical), this is the email info for 2 women who run such a support group, but the children must be being diagnosed by someone in the area, so you could try and email them ask who is the diagnostician -
Contact:
Co-Facilitator
Brenda Ross
Director, Special Education
Parent Resource Center
Ross_Brenda@msmail.asd.K12.ak.us
or,
Co-Facilitator
Peggy Sandberg at ksand@alaska.net
The highest figure I could find for nurses and addiction was 1 in 20.
They are very sympathetic, one in every five nurses is an addict. Most of us are from alcoholic families, no one else would do this work.
There are millions of nurses around the world, or are you specifically talking about the one hospital where you work?
There are nurses in countries where alcohol is against the law, so they can't be from alcoholic families.
I am refering to the United States only
They are very sympathetic, one in every five nurses is an addict. Most of us are from alcoholic families, no one else would do this work.
There are millions of nurses around the world, or are you specifically talking about the one hospital where you work?
There are nurses in countries where alcohol is against the law, so they can't be from alcoholic families.[/quote]
Hi Celia, I am an RN in Maine, not as isolated as Alaska, but, not exactly in the mainstream either.
Anyway, I empathize with you on being bullied by coworkers and doctor's/admin.
I truly hope you get the treatment you need for your chronic pain!
But, saying that, I have to disagree with the idea that "1 in 5" nurses is an addict. In all the stuff I have read in our profession, Amy's figure of "1 in 20" is more realistic. Also no matter what, you should not have been stealing from the lock box. No matter how you want to put it, it's theft, pure and simple. I only hope that you were not diverting pain meds from a patient that needed it. I have seen this happen.
As a defendant in a court case, you are well within your rights to do what you are doing in refusing a plea deal. But, remember the prosecutor is just doing their job as well. And every facility that I have ever worked in has a ZERO tolerance policy to drug abuse. There's a lot in your post that I am not sure of, do you have a specific dx. of Asperger's, etc that your lawyer can produce as a mitigating factor. As well as other witnesses to testify about emotional abuse on the job. You need to line these up.
You also need to get this behind you and get the help you need, at least if you want to continue in the nursing profession.
As for the alcoholism issue, well, it was a running joke in nursing school and the first hospital that I ever worked in as a nurse; that many nurses come from dysfunctional families. And I certainly am one of those and I worked with quite a few that had horror stories that would curl anybody's hair. But then again, I also heard living in Alaska creates it's own unique situations, isolation, cold, darkness, etc.
I hope things work out for you! And for what it's worth, pharmacists and doctor's tend to have a higher percentage of addiction rates than nurses.
1) because they are fewer in number, 2) they have greater accessibility to narcotics, 3) they can conceal it better. At a local hospital where my pharmacist wife worked they caught 3 pharmacists in 5-6 years abusing and diverting drugs for resale.
Peace