Anyone ever get their license back after revocation?

Nurses Recovery

Published

OK, hope I'm doing this right. Now that I have some clean time, I am considering getting my nursing license back. I have no idea how to go about this. I "failed" IPN (FL) in 2002, -that was my last year of practice as an RN. After surrendering my license, in a fog, it was later revoked. I do not have the courage to start making calls yet, but would like to know if anyone has had a similar situation. If so, what steps did you take? Appreciate your help. * I am not asking for any legal advice.* Just maybe some personal, anonymous experience-sharing. Thanks. :bugeyes:

And how do I "subscribe" to this topic?:bowingpur

Hi All,

First, thanks for the comforting words and encouragement.

Second, what is the difference between suspension of your license and surrender? Is surrender more permanent?

Thanks!

0 Votes
Specializes in Impaired Nurse Advocate, CRNA, ER,.

Sent you a private message with some information you might find useful.

Keep us posted!

Jack

0 Votes

I lost my KY license back in 2003 r/t a substance abuse issue. It was horrible and I languished for years even after I was clean. Finally I found the courage to call the board and find out if there was a path to being an RN again. You know what they said? They said, "What took you so long? We've been waiting for you". Just make the call. First thing you will need is a copy of the order that revoked or suspended your license. This order will have your path back laid out. It won't be easy. It may take over a year but what the heck...next year you could be back in your vocation instead of wishing you were back in your vocation. List out EXACTLY what is required that you do. Contact the investigator that is in charge of your case. They are the people who yanked your license and they are your best friend when you want it back. You will most likely need to submit to urine screens, chemical dependancy evaluations, pay fines, ect. ect.....do all of this. I am currently re-applying for my license. I never could have done it without making that call, talking with my investigator and buckling down and getting it done. Good Luck!

0 Votes

petemc67- Yay for you!!! you've gotten the process started!! the journey ahead won't be easy- but it is doable!! keep us posted- good luck & God bless!!

0 Votes

Good luck to you! I surrendered my license in 2006 after a hot drug screen for alcohol while in the recovering nurse program. The BON told me to do 90 days of treatment or surrender my license.

I would suggest evaluating what is important to you. Basically you have to put yourself on probation for a year before you can even petition the BON for a hearing (in Mississippi). The thought of jumping through hoops coupled with the stress of the profession forced me to seek out another degree that I was truly passionate about. I am now a licensed Landscape Architect with my own office that has 16 employees - much less stress and a significantly larger salary.

Follow your heart. It's that easy.

1 Votes

i have been an rn for 22 years now and landed myself in ipn 2 years ago. i have hated this profession for about 7 years now and yesterday requested a voluntary relinquish form from the board and then called ipn and said i'm done!!!!!, haven't been this happy in years, never ever going back. it kind of feels like i've been in prison for 22 years and was just released. good luck to all who still put up with this horrible profession, just my opinion.

0 Votes

Petemc67,

I contemplated trying to get my license back twice before, but the fear and anxiety kept me from it. Now I've go 6 years clean and sober, my life is on track and I think the time is right. My question to you is, what did you mean that the order of surrender would have my path laid out? I have contacted the CT BON and they emailed me the steps I need to take, but would the original order have more in it?

0 Votes

To liamsmom,

Please try to retrieve the original order. To trust someone at a BON could be hurtful to you since each case could be different. You need to start now, because they will make you jump thru hoops. So knowing exactly what you will face is critical. You will probably placed into a program with Psychiatrist visits, urine drops, weekly meetings etc. All of this takes time and costs MONEY. Most contracts are Five(5) years here in Florida, this means that once you are in and hopefully working then you are in for FIVE(5) years. Do you even know if you are on the OIG exclusion list? If you are then you have bigger problems. Plow forward, start going to AA meetings, get a sponsor that will help you when you need it and if possible volunteering may help, it did for me.

Keep in touch and good luck

0 Votes

I concur with liamsmom. Get started, plow through. I had to do all that she mentioned in her post. It took me approx 5 years. But i did it. Jump in with both feet planted in your recovery and your higher power and go baby go!!! You got this!!! You can DO IT!!! I am now working as as LPN with full privileges to practice, going back to school for the LPN to RN bridge program. I wake up every morning and have to pinch myself - living the dream, got everything back that was promised to me according to God's grace!

0 Votes

I am soooo glad I found this website...It gives me hope...because I had just decided to give up...Here's my story...

I was an LPN from 1976 until 2001, when I surrended my license to the board while in a treatment center for alcoholism and drug addiction...

I decided at the time that nursing was a "trigger" for me to drink and use...so I elected not to go thru the steps to get my license back...

From 2001 until 2005, I helped my husband run our 4 businesses we owned and never looked back at nursing...

I relapsed in 2005, after a ugly divorce...but I have been clean and sober since..

I then worked for 7 years in retail management in Texas...

January of 2012, my Mother became ill and I had to move back to my home state of Ark. to help in her care...

Small town, I applied at the local hospital as a billing clerk in the business office and after a drug test and a "background check", I was hired...

It was a great job for me that I was good at...

8 months later, my supervisor, the director, and myself was summoned into a meeting in the administration office...

It seems that I was on the OIG exclusion list...and had to be terminated immediately...I had never heard of this list at all...was never notified...

My director, supervisor, and the administrator all went "to bat" for me...but HR said I had to go..and I could be hired back immediately if I could find a way to get off this list...HR also said that I should have never been hired in the first place, but due to a computer error, it was never known that I was on the "list"...The hospital checks the list every 30 days for new victims...and it took 7 months for my name to show up????

I spent the day on the phone with the board of nursing, and an OIG official in Dallas,,,who couldnt help me and directed me to a woman in Washington DC...

This woman told me the ONLY was to get off the list is to get my license back...I explained to her that I couldnt afford that "trigger" in my recovery, but she said...it was the ONLY way...

Any suggestions????

Deb

0 Votes

debsinark

I would try to find any original paperwork. Also look yourself up in the OIG list to see if you are eligible

to be reinstated. This is done by YEARS(ie the minimum is 5 years and possibly 10 years is the longest) not whether or not you have your license back. Have you surpassed the original length of time of the penalty.

IF you voluntarily surrendered your license you could probably be reinstated and put into a PRN program where you are monitored for drugs and alcohol use. you CAN work while in a PRN program and you can probably get off the list. THIS IS YOUR BIGGEST PROBLEM and that is that you worked in a health care setting and should not have been there. Hopefully the hospital will take the fall not you, it was their resposibility NOT to hire you. The nursing state boards are normally supportive unless you have really upset them prior. Remember that any board members now were not there when you surrendered your license, which is VERY good for you. Do not talk in terms of triggers, if you say that to a state board or the OIG you will not go forward.The OIG will evaluate you in terms of ,WILL you repeat your behavior , You are taking everything a day at a time and you have a disease. The monitoring group will be very supportive and can help you a lot, their recommendation and a letter from will help getting off the OIG list. Just remember that doing all this will take time, alot of time, but it can be done.

PM me if you would like

0 Votes

Devildog...

First of all..thanks so much for your reply....

A few questions if you dont mind...how do I look myself up on the list??...

I know I dont have any paperwork...My license were mailed to the board at the treatment center I was at in 2001...and what do you mean...that hopefully the hospital will take the fall...Will I get into legal trouble for working there??? If I had known about the list, I would have NEVER applied there...my immediate supervisor...knew me when I was a nurse in the 70's...(thats ironic)...she didnt know about the list...

Your help is truly appreciated...I would have pm'd you...but dont know how...

0 Votes
+ Add a Comment