BRN RN on probation PE

Silverdragon102, BSN · Oct 7, 2011

Moved to the Nurses & Recovery forum

willthiseverend · Sep 5, 2016

I don't understand what ad where the conversation goes but I need help please. 59 year old RN got DUI 5.5 years ago and now BRN despite hearing and judgment by ALJ, BRN still wants to invoke 1-19 probation - likely to find myself out of work and then what??? Looking to dialogue w someone whose going through this or been through it???!!!! like asap.

willthiseverend · Sep 5, 2016

What happened? Can you help me with what I'm now going through as same as you several years ago. I would really appreciate it but since you no longer need help are probably long gone....

gnurse2089 · Sep 6, 2016

Hey blhillrn, welcome to the club! I too faced disciplinary action for a first time dui I got 4 years ago in CA and would be happy to give you some advice. First off, how far along in the disciplinary process are you? Have you already signed the stipulated settlement or have you just received your accusation letter? If it's the latter, I advise you to lawyer up right away. If you had a low bac and this is your first offense there's a good chance a lawyer can get the punishment reduced. I was dumb enough to not get a lawyer and they put me on 3 years probation with all the stipulations.

Now if you've already signed the agreement and will be put on probation, relax, you will get through this. You'll get put on a 3 year contract, have to attend one AA and one support group meeting a week, no overtime, and there must be an RN to supervise you at work for at least half hour shift. As long as the offense was for alcohol, you won't have any narc restrictions. There's also a fee from the board of nursing, random drug tests (usually about 2-3 a month), and you have to get a physical and mental health exam done. Regarding the treatment part of it, the board tries to tell you you are required to complete 6 months of rehab, but as long as the MD you go to detemines you don't have an addiction problem (which mine did) you don't have to complete this. Mostly what this program does is cost time, money, and freedom, since you can't travel out of the country during the 3 years because it affects your drug tests.

As far as your job, id advise you to talk to your boss now. It may seem scary but if you've been there awhile and have a good relationship, I find employees are understanding. We all make mistakes and a DUI is the most common misdemeanor in the US. It hasn't affected my job at all other than I can't work overtime.

If you have any more questions, ask me, I'm 4 months in to a 3 year contract, it sucks but we're in this together

willthiseverend · Sep 6, 2016

I paid handsomely for an attorney who represented and attended my hearing as well as paid for a psych who determined I did not have chronic alcohol problem. Besides determining that I did not have a chronic problem which is posted on their website, the money spent did not improve my outcome so far - 20K! The judge was new to BRN issues and recommended 18 mo probation w urine testing and weekly phone call with supervisor (I work from home and in the field). BRN did not accept his judgment and is recommending 19 terms of probation. Not sure why they waste time and money on a hearing since they do what they want and ignore Admin Law Judge. My attorney submitted a written argument and I am back to waiting on their decision. I fully expect the 19 terms of probation.

To clarify, the terms of supervision is one-half hour per shift? I fear this piece will land me jobless. What is the cost of fine to the BRN and the probation officer? How often do you have to meet w probation person?

Thank you for your time. I really appreciate it. What a great way to end my career. I would not recommend anyone enter nursing because of the licensing agency.

gnurse2089 · Sep 7, 2016

I had heard the Board could refuse the ALJs decision which is why I signed the consent agreement in the first place, sad to hear this happened to you. I know how hard this is, I'm 4 years into my career and I feel like I'm branded forever but keep your head up.

As long as there were no extenuating circumstances to your DUI (aka no one got hurt) they should give you moderate level of supervision which means you need another RN there to supervise you for at least half your shift (so if you work 8s that's 4 hours a day, for 12s that's six hours a day) and you can't work homecare or registry since there's no supervisor to watch you. Having said that, you might be able to appeal this discision. For me, I work admissions in a skilled nursing facility so I already have a supervisor in the building. After a year of working under these stipulations you can appeal to lower the conditions so that you can work homecare or registry. After 2 years you can appeal to have your probation terminated early but your fine has to be paid and you must have completed all the other probation requirements.

My fine was a little over 1,800 bucks, it really depends on the case, for nurses that have diverted meds I've heard it can cost up to 18k but for a first time DUI it shouldn't be that high. You only meet with your monitor once at the beginning of your probation and at the end, unless there are issues that come up. The rest of your correspondence will be by phone or email.

It's a lot. If I were at the end of my career, I probably would just surrebdee my license. As I'm just starting out, I have no choice but to comply, but either way we'll get through this.

willthiseverend · Sep 7, 2016

I very well may quit. Don't appreciate being forced out of work and my career before I am ready but I am not willing to find a job that has supervision. Other than mental health, I'm doubt no one will hire someone w a blemished license. Appeal will cost a lot more money. My job is one that is autonomous and I work alone - are they flexible at all on the supervision requirement? Does a supervisor have to turn in paperwork or routine reporting? How do they know what supervision you have?

I didn't know of anyone to talk to about the whole thing and had no idea what BRN was like in terms of adopting ALJ decisions so you saved a lot of money.

Thanks again.

gnurse2089 · Sep 9, 2016

As far as the level of supervision goes, does your current job require you to have an RN license? Do you provide direct patient care? I think if it's not direct care they may be a little lenient on the supervision requirement, but as long as you're working with patients, moderate supervision is the best you can hope for. Most of the people in my support group are actually surprised the BRN put me on moderate supervision from the start as most people are placed on max supervision, which means the supervisor has to be in the building with you for your entire shift.

For the first six months, your supervisor has to turn in a monthly report on your job performance (its like a 3 page questionaire with really generic questions). After 6 months the reports go down to quarterly. And I don't think they ever actually go in to the building to check your level of supervision, but they have the right to audit work schedules anytime to see if there was a supervisor in the building at the time of your shift. (Though my boss, who's worked with quite a few nurses on probation, has never seen this happen).

willthiseverend · Oct 22, 2016

I am a nurse case manager in wk comp which means I work from home (and love that about my job) and my car as I attend injured workers MD appts. My supervisor is actually in the Bay area as she also works from home. The home office is here in town so I can actually go in to the office but that is just really a pain as appts are in many nearby cities (up to 2hrs 1/way) and at various times of day. I'm worried they will say I can't do this work at all since they indicate no HH.

My employer does contract w Quest and have stated maybe I can go to them and get their contracted rate. How often have you had to do this, how expensive, and how long does it take?

So you do go to the weekly meetings? But you got out of having to do rehab somehow?

I really appreciate your help. Just found out two days ago that they did not accept the ALJ decision and I got all 19. Should have saved my money. I paid for the psych evaluation in prep for that and hope that I don't have to repeat that but since they are such *******s, I probably will. I really appreciate your help. This sucks.

willthiseverend · Oct 23, 2016

So no direct care but requires RN license.

gnurse2089 · Oct 23, 2016

You might have some luck being that you're not doing direct patient care, but the downside is you don't have a direct supervisor over you which is one of the requirements for the first year at least. I would still submit all the paperwork and wait for an answer. It takes about 3 weeks from the time you submit everything to when you hear back from the board so I would submit it before your probationary period starts so if it does get approved, it doesn't interrupt your job in any way. I had been at my job for 3 years when my probation went into effect and it still took them 3 weeks to get back to me, luckily I had scheduled vacation for that time so I didn't miss out on any days of work.

In terms of your PE, as long as its been less than a year since you had it done, the results should be valid. Also, you'll want to make sure your physician makes it clear that you DO NOT have alcohol dependency and do not need to go through treatment, as even if its the slightest bit vague the board will make you do an outpatient treatment program which can run upwards of a couple grand. My MD had experience with this before and explicitly wrote I do not need treatment which is how I got out of that requirement. 12 step meetings there's no getting out of but it's only one a week which is pretty painless.

Drug testing is a huge pain in the your know what. I get tested an average of 2-3 times a month and I've had the unfortunate luck of frequently getting tested on weekends. If you live in a major city this isn't really a problem but being that I live on the Central Coast, there's only 2 places open on weekends to test and they're both an hour drive from me. There are only a few sites that Firstlab contracts with so you can't go to just any lab, and the collection fees range from 30-45 bucks a test. Add that to the 62.50 that the lab charges you for each test and you're paying nearly $100 a pop. To date, after 6 months of testing i've spent nearly a grand on this alone, however everyone says the testing is less frequent as you go on.

If you can afford to retire right now, honestly, I would do that rather than go through the hoops the board makes you jump through to keep your license. I'm 26 and at the beginning of my career, so I obviously can't afford to do so, but you can rest assured I'll never drink and drive again.