RN needs work in VA w/ disciplinary action

[tellmywhy]

Hi everyone. Im a RN trying to find employment in Virginia. I have a reprimand on my license after it was suspended briefly due to investigation. (I was in the Florida IPN for 5 years. Virginia is my home state. Once I returned to VA, the BON did an investigation as to the status that should be taken on my VA license....they FULLY REINSTATED MY LICENSE, WITH A MULTISTATE COMPACT PRIVILEGE, NO RESTRICTIONS, ...but did reprimand me).

After the hearing, the VA BON members (the investigators, etc) told me they had NEVER seen a license totally reinstated like mine was!! I was so relieved.

NOW>>> I cant get a job. Everyone wants to hire me, but when I disclose the info about the discipline, they promptly look it up, and I guess see that its "recent", and decline to go further w/ the interview process.

I have tried everywhere. I DID get ONE staffing agency to hire me. The problem is that every time I go to work, at lets say a long term care facility, they want to hire me there...but that is before they find out about the discipline.

I am in the VA beach area, but would accept any employment state wide.

Does anyone have any pointers or suggestions?

Im already blackballed from the Bon Secours facilities...d/t the discipline.

Its like they dont even take the time to hear me out or let me explain. And every application these days asks you up front if you have ever had disciplinary action taken.

What do I do?????

[OverwhelmednVA]

Thanks so much! I don't know how I missed this reply lol. Luckily that lab lady leaves me alone now. Haha. How is dialysis going?! That's where I applying now- hoping davita is just as friendly! I could use some advice though- would putting that I am in hpmp in my resume cover letter be a dumb thing to do? I don't want to have to say it in the interview and think I would be more comfortable with them knowing up front. But then I worry I will never get any calls. Got any advice on this?! hope you are doing great!!

[catmom1, BSN, RN]

...would putting that I am in hpmp in my resume cover letter be a dumb thing to do? I don't want to have to say it in the interview and think I would be more comfortable with them knowing up front...

You definitely DON'T want to say anything but positives in a cover letter. Anything else just gives HR or whoever a chance to shoot you down without giving you a chance. You want to impress the person who has the power to hire you first--and then tell them about hpmp when you feel they may be ready to make the offer.

I know it is agonizing, at first, to talk about your "stuff" but it gets easier with practice. When my license was on probation, I typed up a brief statement about my situation and how it had helped me grow as a nurse and a human being. At the end, I didn't say anything about being given a "chance," which sounds risky and like I was desperate.

It has been so long since I had to disclose current discipline, that I momentarily forgot what I used to say. I was able to find the quote from what I used:

" I have addressed the issues which caused the disciplinary action and have grown both personally and professionally as a result. Please allow me this opportunity and I will be an asset to your business."

What I did was hand the interviewer my disclosure with those last statements at the end. I gave a copy to everyone interviewing me if there was more than one. This way, I wouldn't have to worry if I was saying it right. I then offered to answer any questions they might have.

Believe me: even today, the shame of my situation can creep up on me since I am currently looking for a nursing job. The hardest person to forgive has always been myself.

Good luck, OverwhelmednVA and let us know how it goes.

Catmom :paw:

[gn4rest]

To Overwhelmed,

Smaller hospitals I've worked for in New Mexico and Colorado only check the license you are applying with. I also feel it best in a larger hospital to go directly to the dept mgr, bypassing HR. Explain your situation before HR has the chance to toss your resume in the trashcan.

[vamurse]

Totally agree with gn4rest. Hr people only judge applicants on paper and are often looking to shrink resume piles. Disclose to the actual hiring manager in person rather than to hr. And remember to highlight what you HAVE DONE ABOUT YOUR PROBLEM rather than what you did to get into trouble.

[OverwhelmednVA]

Wow I didn't expect such fast replays! Thank you all so much! I am

trying to stay away from hospitals and apply at dialysis clinics- there is one right across the street I would love to get on at one day! I have a very anxious chihuahua at home and the less time I'm away the better haha! There is a question on the application I am not

to sure about.. It asks if I have ever had any adverse action taken against any license- now in my situation I was interviewed by the investigator then referred to the monitoring program to bypass a hearing at the board. I was granted a stay of discipline from the Bon after signing the contract with hpmp.. Is this adverse action? I'm a year in and still terrified to make any mistakes and make things worse, so any insight on this will help so much! I appreciate all the replies for you all!

[vamurse]

You're all good on that one. There has been no adverse actions taken against ur license. That's one of the main reasons many of us agree to HPMP. You received a stay of disciplinary action meaning that no action was taken against your license. In four years this will all be a bad memory and you will never have to disclose this chapter in ur life again. When you look up your license it says "no" under public information this is the same page/answer that an employer would see if they were to look up ur license. Sorry for crappy writing, laying in bed with a three year old on top of my phone arm. Hope this helps

[OverwhelmednVA]

Thank you so much!!! I can finally send these applications off! It has been so stressful not knowing what to put or not to put- i appreciate the help!

[sallyrnrrt, ADN, RN]

you have received some wonderful advise

[kdavis15]

Bon Secours can be terrible. I do understand. Try looking into one of the government agencies. They usually do a much more thorough check which may be in your favor. Also any of the IHS facilities are crying for help, experienced or not.

[CryssyD]

Have you checked the National Practitioners' Data Bank? I also came from Florida to Virginia, and Florida was much slower about doing things--once I was done with Virginia's HPMP, they immediately notified the NPDB, even though I don't think I was actually on it. Florida seems to need a kick in the pants sometimes to get things done.

I got into the prison system--the Dept of Corrections often needs nurses with good med-surg experience. Hospitals and (private) nursing homes in this state seem very twitchy about anyone with past problems, and I don't know why. I think it's often a matter of luck. But keep trying--you never know who might be willing to give you a chance.

Best of luck to you--I know it's really frustrating!

[TitaniumPlates]

OK, so I was perusing this comment section because a good friend was just nailed for "possible diversion". I am terrified for her, because I know without a doubt, that she didn't do this. I could elaborate, but it would identify her and the facility if I did. Suffice it to say, she was a traveler at a facility and did something on the job that embarrassed the NM (in the NM's mind. I heard the story and it wasn't anything horrible. I think the NM was simply hair triggered bc her facility SUCKS and is mostly travelers. she takes it very personally it seems. and some lowly peasant traveler dared to talk back to her on something stupid.)

I digress.

She received a letter from the BON of her state, saying that after she had left the assignment, with no word from the NM, that the facility is now accusing her of diversion. During her THIRD WEEK of the assignment.

I don't know, OP, if you understand this.

BONs are NOT mandated to protect NURSES. They are mandated to protect the PUBLIC FROM THE NURSES.

Period. End of statement. Remember it. Because when you deal with ANY BON, you have to get that. It's not something you will change, debate, negotiate or cirumvent.

Period.

They don't have to "give you" anything. Ever. They are there for the public's protection. Not yours. Feeling entitled to what you had before, because you are sorry and did your time....is a moot point. I see this attitude all over this board. It seems people don't get it, that they are lucky that the boards even give them ONE chance, let alone two or three. They have ZERO obligation to you or your problems.

I know this because i went to them myself for a personal issue of a stalker who threatened my life. I wanted protection and I had legal backing to get it. The BON said...."nopity nope nope. you are who we say you are, it is public and too damn bad. we don't have to help you. you could be lying about this and just trying to cover up some criminal activity of YOUR OWN and we aren't going to take your legal documents as proof"

This is how it is. I didn't say you had to like it or agree with it or that it's fair. They have something you want----your license to practice. It's their game. You are just a player. It's a revenue stream for them as well as a political tool. You and others, including myself as well as my friend....need to just deal with it.

Your license will ALWAYS and FOREVER have a reprimand on it. Convictions? I dunno. My friend hasn't been convicted of anything. But a different friend had a reprimand against her TWENTY YEARS AGO....for defending herself against a patient who attacked her.

The letter is still there. I can pull it up anytime. It has effected everything in her life. She's gone to the master's level of education....and it is a factor in every.single.thing.she.does. Every job. When I read the letter? It sounds like....crap....I woulda done the exact same thing, and the reprimand reads that the BON actually agrees that she was in a threatening situation.....BUT.....she should never, EVER (according to them) have defended herself. No matter what.

She's not even accused of diversion, she was accused of being human.

So. All that being said. I am mortified for my friend, and I know she will never get away from this if there is a reprimand letter. She can be "completely cleared" as you were....and what the BON does is find something else that you did within that particular problem you had....and reprimand you. It stays.

I have been seriously considering just leaving nursing altogether because of this issue alone. That someone, somewhere---can accuse you of something, whether there is evidence or not---and the BON jumps on that like wolves on a rabbit, tearing your life to shreds. My friend is devastated...she can't go anywhere, do anything....and the board says "6 months" to "investigate" because they are short staffed. No recourse for her.

I am not bringing up your past transgression. I don't care one way or another what you did or why. I am telling you that once you get caught doing something that is against the Nursing bylaws....you are forever tainted. Period.

I personally am terrified of even holding an ampule of fentanyl now, for fear that someone might claim that they saw me put it in my pocket (I work at a place where you have to waste at the pyxis, but you have to scan the med at bedside. ergo, you are carrying around an empty vial of a narcotic that has been properly wasted, but........???).

I used to tape partially used ampules to my badge during traumas, and then wasted when i got the chance. Do that now?? Oh hell no.

After having a justified, in the right, legally backed tangle with the BON over something like my life being threatened, and they told me to pound sand?

I hate to say it, but you might want to just take whatever job, wherever you can, and be okay with that. The BONs are NOT YOUR FRIEND.

Luck to you.