Being monitored but would like to move to another state

Nurses Recovery

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My nursing license was suspended in December. My ex husband reported me when I experienced a painful relapse. I was not agreeable to joining the health professionals service program at that time and my license was suspended. I am able to get my license back if I agree to be monitored for the next few years and follow several other recommendations such as going to meetings, counselor visits, etc. I am not sure if I am going to submit to monitoring or just give up on nursing. I would like to move to a warmer climate for health reasons and am wondering if I can be monitored in another state or if I would need to stay in Minnesota until the monitoring period is over to keep my license. Just wondering if anyone out there has moved to another state while being monitored and how that works.

Specializes in Emergency / Disaster.

From a different perspective... you have first hand knowledge that others do not have. It will either make you compassionate or unemotional when dealing with others who have the same issues. I actually see your "problem" as a strength in certain situations. I think that if you are capable of being compassionate, you could really benefit others who have the same "issues" - whether that be as a nurse or acting in some other capacity. I wish you the best of luck moving forward.

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I just don't understand how that is fair. I could see if I was charged with a crime or something, but to me it seems like if you don't conform to what they want you to be, they are going to do anything possible to make sure you aren't able to get any employment.

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In one of your responses, you stated that you are much happier out of nursing, not having to work 50 hours a week, and that you don't really want to go back. If all of that is true, I would think that you would in no way consider undergoing monitoring, just to get a license back for a job you don't want to do anymore.

Monitoring isn't easy, but it's going to be nearly unbearable if you don't want to be nursing in the first place. If you like nursing but are just disillusioned with it at the moment, then I would pursue the monitoring hoops because that is a normal sentiment when this stuff goes down, and it does get better with time. However, if you have discovered that life is much better without nursing...well...it wouldn't make much sense to try to go back to it. Quality of life is most important for all of us.

Regardless, best wishes with your decision. Ultimately, only you know what is best for you.

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Yes, I am aware of everything you are saying. I have experience with monitoring. The main reason for this post was I was trying to see if it was possible to move my case to another state if I chose to move. My lawyer was not able to answer that and it was something i was curious about. I was not aware of this OIg system and was not aware that I could be put on a list and be ineligible to work in any capacity in a company that received Medicare funds. I had asked my lawyer if I would be able to continue to be a PCA and she did not know the answer to that either. In fact, it seemed like no one really could answer a lot of my questions and it was a frustrating process to say the least. I did request to be able to surrender my license but was told that I could not do that. I thought that was very strange and now I hear that I may be put on a list if I surrender my license. That doesn't seem fair. I feel like I joined some kind of weird gang where I am not allowed to leave. If I would have known this 20 years ago, I would have went into another profession.

One other thing is I did not feel that the monitoring got better over time. I found that the rules were getting stricter and stricter and it was getting more and more difficult to follow all the rules. Lab hours were decreased. Quarterly evaluations were made longer. My supervisor and MD were never able to get their evaluations done on time the whole 4 years , without me asking for them repeatedly. Every year the cost of testing went up. My second supervisor was Not as understanding as the first and made it more difficult for me to get off work to go to lab. I worked 12 hour shifts and it seemed that the surprise lab visits always were scheduled on my work days. It really didn't get better at all.

Yes, it is true that I do not want to be a nurse any longer and I definitely don't want to enter a monitoring program, but it seems to be more complicated than that. I wish I was able to just surrender my license and walk away. In the end I will be leaving but it appears that the nursing board will make it as difficult as possible to start a new profession.

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Specializes in Psych, Addictions, SOL (Student of Life).
What is the OIG?

Here is a good explanation of what the OIG is, what it does and how it works.

OIG Exclusion List: What it Means, What You Should Do

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Yes, I am aware of everything you are saying. I have experience with monitoring. The main reason for this post was I was trying to see if it was possible to move my case to another state if I chose to move. My lawyer was not able to answer that and it was something i was curious about. I was not aware of this OIg system and was not aware that I could be put on a list and be ineligible to work in any capacity in a company that received Medicare funds. I had asked my lawyer if I would be able to continue to be a PCA and she did not know the answer to that either. In fact, it seemed like no one really could answer a lot of my questions and it was a frustrating process to say the least. I did request to be able to surrender my license but was told that I could not do that. I thought that was very strange and now I hear that I may be put on a list if I surrender my license. That doesn't seem fair. I feel like I joined some kind of weird gang where I am not allowed to leave. If I would have known this 20 years ago, I would have went into another profession.

One other thing is I did not feel that the monitoring got better over time. I found that the rules were getting stricter and stricter and it was getting more and more difficult to follow all the rules. Lab hours were decreased. Quarterly evaluations were made longer. My supervisor and MD were never able to get their evaluations done on time the whole 4 years , without me asking for them repeatedly. Every year the cost of testing went up. My second supervisor was Not as understanding as the first and made it more difficult for me to get off work to go to lab. I worked 12 hour shifts and it seemed that the surprise lab visits always were scheduled on my work days. It really didn't get better at all.

Yes, it is true that I do not want to be a nurse any longer and I definitely don't want to enter a monitoring program, but it seems to be more complicated than that. I wish I was able to just surrender my license and walk away. In the end I will be leaving but it appears that the nursing board will make it as difficult as possible to start a new profession.

I'm sorry, I didn't mean that monitoring got better with time, I meant that the disillusionment can get better...for me, it got a bit better when I got my first nursing job in monitoring...then it got better again when I finally could drop my narc restriction..then when I got my first annual evaluation at work and it was glowing, well, I started feeling better that I had made the right decision to stay in nursing.

You are correct, the monitoring does get harder and more intense. But my dissilusionment with my job has improved. I just wanted to clarify there.

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Oh, and regarding the OIG, when I was trying to decide whether to surrender my license or do monitoring, the head of the monitoring program told me that if I surrendered, I would be placed on the OIG list and that I "wouldn't be allowed to mop the floor of a medical office building" if I went that route. The way he explained it is that it is a straight up black ball for any position in a facility that receives Medicaid/Medicare reimbursement. Regardless of the job role.

I'll be honest, at the time, that was the ONLY reason I decided to do monitoring. It certainly feels like I was strong-armed into it. But, I did not want to get on the OIG list. I had tried for months to find a job outside healthcare, but ultimately I was unable to survive on the $9/hr I made as a preschool teacher. So I very begrudgingly agreed to monitoring. Now I'm happy with my choice. At the time? Not so much.

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That is too bad about the OIG list. I was really hoping that I could keep my job as a PCA. I don't know what to do now. I guess I will have to make some decisions but not sure what they are going to be yet.

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Specializes in Pediatric Critical Care.
I wish I was able to just surrender my license and walk away.

Why do you need to officially surrender it? Why can't you just not work as a nurse?

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Why do you need to officially surrender it? Why can't you just not work as a nurse?

She has faced discipline. The BON won't let you have an active license without monitoring in these situations, even if you don't work. She is in the long process of accepting/maybe even transferring a monitoring contract...or allowing suspension, or revocation, of her license if she quits monitoring. The BON won't let you just promise not to work...nor will they let you go inactive...they will take action if she doesn't eventually do monitoring, so she has some heavy decisions to make. She can't be suspended forever. Eventually she has to choose monitoring or letting her license go to surrender or revocation. She is here for guidance from nurses who have gone through something similar.

I hope that makes sense. It's a convoluted process, to say the least.

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Specializes in OR.

I suppose the idea behind forcing the nursing issue to be cleared up before beginning any other profession was to not allow someone with a discipline issue to simply toss nursing and transition to say rad tech or RT all squeaky clean. Tis' True and probably applicable for a textbook portion of cases but like the issue of these programs that have far overreached thier authority (for example contracts that demand attendance at a religious based organization such as AA in order to retain a state issued license) this issue has far overreached its intended purpose.

We now have an example of this reality in a person who has determined that working in nursing exacerbates her struggles with addiction and that it would just be healthier to walk away. However, instead of recognizing that mature decision, we have a BON/DON who prefer to punish even further. I can see refusing to grant any other healthcare related license, but there are many things that one can do for more than $9 with a nursing background but not needing a license.

Frankly, it seems being on that list is a death knell for anything other than fast food jobs. I always thought it was for people who committed Medicare/insurance fraud. Yet another screwed up thing with our healthcare system. Addiction and/or mental health is a disease unless you are a healthcare professional, in which case it is a moral failing that must be unceasingly punished.

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Yes. I agree and very well written.

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