Will a OTH in lieu of court martial prevent me from getting RN licence?

Sam J. · Jan 29, 2014

Interesting. As a vereran, no state has ever asked about my military history, or even if I had a military history.

Quick check of CA BON- they say you must report 'any military conviction or dishonorable discharge'.

And here's the topic in AN:

https://allnurses.com/general-nursing-discussion/worried-about-other-523480.html

seugin1223 · Jan 29, 2014

Thanks for the input, for the Louisiana BON application it asks: Have you been discharged from the military on ground(s) other than an honorable discharge?

Provide a narrative of the other-than-honorable discharge, with date(s) of incident(s)

involved, detailed description of grounds for discharge, along with description of the

surrounding circumstance and any/all other relevant information.

 Enclose photocopies of any/all military discharge documents, including any/all

documentation of the underlying action(s) that resulted in discharge, with any/all other

related records.

Sam J. · Jan 30, 2014

Well, I'm sorry to hear that our young people can be put into the line of fire and risk loss of limb or death, but can't be spared to visit a dying parent. To be fair, though, I'm sure your Commander wouldn't have asked for leave (or left on his own accord, maybe even by signing his own compassionate leave request?) to visit his own dying mother. Sure.

Meriwhen, ASN, BSN, MSN, RN · Jan 30, 2014

We can not provide legal advice at AN. If you have questions as to how to fill out your application, you need to talk to an attorney. You can find one here: TAANA Executive Office - Home

Unfortunately, you handled things the wrong way...and the military sees this happen so often--legitimately and otherwise--that they have little tolerance for it.

Best of luck.

seugin1223 · Jan 30, 2014

My post was not asking how to fill out my application. My post actually stated that I intended to give full disclosure as well as a narrative explaining my specific situation. My question was asking if anyone else had dealt with this particular issue. And what they're results were as far as getting licensed. I WAS NOT asking for legal advice. Not sure how you read that into my original posting.

Sam J. · Jan 30, 2014

Unfortunately, you handled things the wrong way...and the military sees this happen so often--legitimately and otherwise--that they have little tolerance for it.

Best of luck.

I'm interested to hear about your own, personal military service experience, Meriwhen. Barring that, if you haven't served, maybe you might provide some verification to back up what you said? It might add some credibilty to the statements you made above. With all due respect.

-Freedom isn't free.

Meriwhen, ASN, BSN, MSN, RN · Jan 30, 2014

Years of working with military duty members/patients, many of which had been or were in the process of being seperated for such offenses. One doesn't need to be active duty to have an idea of how the military works, or to be able to understand the Uniform Code. Nor does being active duty mean that one is automatically an authority on such matters, as some of my patients could attest.

That being said, I apologize if you took offense at my statement, as I sincerely meant no disrespect. It also in no way means I agree with how the military treated the OP, but the fact remains that the OP left w/o authroization. Their outcome could have been far worse.

Sam J. · Jan 30, 2014

Thanks for that. Yes, it struck a nerve. I saw all kinds of people thrown out of the military for serious, and for the pettiest of offenses. If more people had more opportunities, here in our own country, there'd be many fewer volunteering to risk their lives to protect the rest of us in wars that are mostly of our making. What then? The 'draft'. That's one word that can strike fear into the masses, and that would cause people to think about what the OP did- his visit to see his dying mother has impacted his ability to become a nurse. Whether the BON will consider that an act of compassion, time will tell. How many of us would not have left any other 'job', to do the same, is the real question.

Anyway it goes to show the constant, forward march of BONs to reach ever further back, into any crevice they can uncover, in their goal to 'protect the public'. A cautionary tale.

seugin1223 · Jan 30, 2014

My post wasn't about whether or not my actions were right or justified. I was just asking if anyone else had any experience with this particular situation. An OTH with no conviction as far as being denied, delayed, or approved getting licensed. In my state, you have to apply through the state BON with a background check in order to be accepted into clinicals.

Sam J. · Jan 31, 2014

In my state, you have to apply through the state BON with a background check in order to be accepted into clinicals.

Wow. That's a new one to me. I guess that answers your question, then- you have to get approval from your BON to be accepted to take clinicals? If they approve, I wonder if that means all of your clinical sites would then permit you to attend clinicals, or are they required to abide by the approval from the BON, or can they deny you based on their own criteria? Maybe you can talk to an advisor at the school you have your sights on, for guidance, advice?

To end on a positive note, I would assume that if the BON approves you for clinicals, then they would also have no problem allowing you to test/become licensed. That's how my mind thinks, anyways.

Meriwhen, ASN, BSN, MSN, RN · Jan 31, 2014

Thanks for that. Yes, it struck a nerve. I saw all kinds of people thrown out of the military for serious, and for the pettiest of offenses. If more people had more opportunities, here in our own country, there'd be many fewer volunteering to risk their lives to protect the rest of us in wars that are mostly of our making. What then? The 'draft'. That's one word that can strike fear into the masses, and that would cause people to think about what the OP did- his visit to see his dying mother has impacted his ability to become a nurse. Whether the BON will consider that an act of compassion, time will tell. How many of us would not have left any other 'job', to do the same, is the real question.
Anyway it goes to show the constant, forward march of BONs to reach ever further back, into any crevice they can uncover, in their goal to 'protect the public'. A cautionary tale.

I didn't mention that I have almost 20 years as a military SO/spouse, so I'm well aware of the hardships that active duty servicemen and their families go through...and how the military/government can often be the serviceman's worst enemy.

But that sometimes gets the "oh, you're JUST a spouse, you don't REALLY get it," reaction even from AD/vets so I tend not to broadcast it. Definitely not to the patients as there's always a chance that my patient and my better half may have some command affiliation. But my experiences does help when working with them though.

IMO, BONs tend to be overzealous when it comes to stuff. As I keep saying, they're not our friend.

Wow. That's a new one to me. I guess that answers your question, then- you have to get approval from your BON to be accepted to take clinicals? If they approve, I wonder if that means all of your clinical sites would then permit you to attend clinicals, or are they required to abide by the approval from the BON, or can they deny you based on their own criteria? Maybe you can talk to an advisor at the school you have your sights on, for guidance, advice?
To end on a positive note, I would assume that if the BON approves you for clinicals, then they would also have no problem allowing you to test/become licensed. That's how my mind thinks, anyways.

That's a new one to me too, but I'm not familiar with the Louisiana BON so this may be what they do so I don't doubt the OP. However, I'm a little wary because too many threads here have told about a BON granting ATTs to an applicant with a criminal history, but when it comes time to actually issuing the license, the BON did a 180.