DUI conviction success story

Nurses Criminal

Published

Hi everyone!

I know a lot of you on here are looking for answers to your licensing questions regarding prior convictions and find mostly bad news. I want to share my story with you guys to give you hope. I'll give some background history first. When I was 18 (7 years ago), I got an open container ticket. I didn't have to pay any fines and was not arrested. This was considered in infraction and is not on my criminal record. When I was 23 (2 1/2 years ago) I was arrested for a DUI. I was speeding on the freeway and was arrested with a BAC of 0.13%. I was convicted of a misdemeanor DUI and I am actually still on probation until this coming October.

So fast forward. I just (last week) graduated from nursing school (BSN). I applied to the BRN on February 26th and submitted the required paperwork (court docs, etc.) on March 3rd. It has been two months since I applied. Today I received a letter from the BRN saying they will not take any disciplinary actions against my license! So I am free to take the NCLEX and get an unrestricted license! By the way, I live in California and I am dealing with the California BRN, which if you guys do not know are VERY strict about convictions. I also did not have a lawyer help me with the application process and did everything myself.

Just wanted to share my story with you guys because I know a lot of times only negative posts are written and it's hard to find posts with positive outcomes. To be completely honest I did not think they were going to let me get an unrestricted license because I had two alcohol-related convictions. The most useful tip I can give is to be 100% sincere and honest in your explanation letter. At first I was debating if I should disclose the open container ticket because it did not show up on my criminal record and I was therefore unsure if the BRN would even see it and did not want to make my appeal even worse than it already was. But I decided it's better to be completely honest and forthcoming. The BRN wants to see honesty and integrity and that you really learned your lesson so it's best to be completely honest. It worked for me and I hope it works for you guys with similar situations! Good luck!

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I am in the same boat as I graduated in January 2015 and got convicted of a DUI in March 2015. I am also in California and blew a .15 . If you have time to talk please PM me sometime because I am currently so heartbroken and torn that I may not be able to obtain my RN license anytime soon!

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Hi, sorry I attempted to PM you but it is not letting me since I have not had enough activity on this site. I would recommend calling the BRN and getting in touch with the enforcement agent who is in charge of your case. I called the BRN several times to see if they had received my paperwork and they were able to connect me to the agent who was going to make the final decision on my appeal. It might be helpful to talk to the person in charge of your case directly. I included two letters of recommendation, one from my clinical instructor from school and one from the counselor from the DUI school. I also wrote a very sincere, heartfelt explanation letter. The recentness of your conviction may be why you are having difficulty getting licensed. I hope it works out for you!! I know how very stressful it is not knowing what is going to happen. Good luck!

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I haven't applied yet but it's been over a year. I've been hearing stories of waiting until finishing probation ( planning to petition to end probation early at the 1.5 year mark). Although I feel the longer I wait the more skills and knowledge obtained from school will be forgotten. Although your success story inspires me to apply soon!

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I am actually still on probation so I'm not sure how much that matters. In the letter that I wrote I acknowledged that I am still on probation but that I haven't violated the probation in any way and that I plan on expunging it ASAP. If I was you I would apply ASAP because the appeal process can take up to a year so the longer you wait to apply the longer it's gonna take to get the ball rolling.

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Hi calinurse03. Thanks for sharing your success story! I'm in a similar situation but in my circumstances, I got my DUI-misdemeanor back in Oct 2015 and I'm now finished with my community service with just 2 weeks left to complete my court ordered DUI classes. But I just found out that I was selected to be in my school's ADN program that will begin in the Fall of this year and I wanted your input; do you think my DUI will affect me starting the nursing program? Especially with clinicals, I'm super scared that the clinical sites will not let me practice because of the background check, which will certainly show my criminal conviction ☹️

And do you think I should be contacting or sending the BRN my court stuff now or do I wait until I'm almost done with the nursing program? I have my nursing orientation on Friday and I plan on telling the dean my situation right now, but I am seriously so stressed out right now that I won't be able to become an RN/NP because of this stupid mistake I made. Hearing your story kind of gives me hope. I just feel really lost right now so any input from you would be helpful. Thanks!

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Did you initially get denied and then appealed?

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So if I'm understanding this right you were able to apply for a license and take the nclex while still being on probation ?

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That is a success story! Congrats. My situation is slightly different. I am in Ga & have been an LPN for over 30 years. Been with the same healthcare corporation 22 years. I was attending a pharmaceutical dinner with co workers & had too much to drink. I called my now ex-husband to come get me & he refused telling me to take a cab. I was too intixicated to make a clear decision. I was arrested over 10 years ago & had a bad attorney. I did not blow so nothing on file but a refusal. The attorney bullied me into signing a confession to DUI. I hired a new attorney & he got the charge down to reckless driving. I paid my fine within 6 months served my hours of community service attended the court ordered classes. I have never lost my nursing license not had an incident before if after this one. I am now looking to change companies as I am capped on salary. I would like to apply to Kaiser but am fearful of an application being denied when I disclose my past situation. I have no court records as my ex destroyed them during our divorce. The arrest cannot be expunged as it is a reckless driving offense. Any thoughts would be appreciated!

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Hi there! So did you write a separate personal statement about the open container or just include it in DUI personal statement. I have a couple arrest but were never convicted. I'm confused if I should include my arrest or just my convictions. I was most likely going to include the arrest to just be 100% honest. But when you told about the open container ticket did you get the certified court paper work that the BRN request for all convictions? Also, wondering if I should just have a personal statement explaining all my arrest in one?

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