I commend you for getting clean and being able to come back to the profession. Did co workers treat you differently when you came back, or didn't they know? I myself am in recovery and also in nursing school. I have 3 more semesters until I'm eligible to take the NCLEX-RN boards. I love nursing school and nursing. Yes it can be stressful, but I still love it and want to be a nurse more than anything, my problem is, I havn't told anyone about my past and don't think I could, for fear that my fellow nursing students and professors would look down upon me or start watching my every move like I'm still on drugs or something. I am so afraid someone will find out who I used to be, which was a very heavily addicted opiate abuser. I have been clean now for over 2 years, but some times I think about what could happen to me if I ever messed up again. I don't have any thoughts or cravings now, nor have I in the last 2 years. I just get scared that if I am constantly handling drugs, opiates in particular, will I start craving them. Am I kidding myself thinking I can be a nurse? I sometimes feel so good about my choices and how well I am doing, and then times like these when I think, what are you trying to do to yourself? Am I setting myself up for failure? Please if you have any advice, I'd love to hear it.
Thanks Michelle