Dui 4 years ago 2 years before nursing school in NJ

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So 4 years ago I got a dui with an accident. It was 2 years before I started nursing school. That incident changed my entire life and I went back to school to become a nurse. I recently graduated and received my ATT from the NJBON. I am now worried that after taking my NCLEX the board will deny my license or implement serious sanctions against me. I have heard a story about one person who got a dui 3 years before nursing school and NJ made it so difficult that he opted to get his license in NY instead. I have heard other stories where people got their license no problem and no restrictions. Does anyone have any experience with this in NJ specifically. I admitted to it on my application submitted all necessary paperwork and wrote an awesome letter of explanation regarding the circumstances. Any insight would be extremely appreciated.

During your three month evaluation are you allowed to work? And if not and are already working do you have to quit or can you take an excused leave of absence?

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Specializes in LTAC.

Ugh… if there is an initial positive fingernail test do you they’ll make you inactivate your license? Or provide a urine?!

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Specializes in ICU.

From what I remember, the blood test will show a certain marker of alcohol level dating back a couple of months (peth levels). This is what the go off of in terms of determining how "heavily" someone drinks. Unfortunately, peth levels cannot distinguish between heavy regular drinking or a night or two of binge drinking, like going out to the bar with friends. They do an initial intake with you and ask how much you drink socially and when the last time you drank was. They take this into account when scheduling your tests. However, any little red flag in your disclosure or discrepancy in your tests and they'll ding you for that. You have to check in every single day to see if you've been selected to get tested. I had a handful of random urine tests, one fingernail and one blood test. For the nail test, they made me drive 1.5 hours away.

This post was originally about new nurses applying for licensure. At the end of the eval, the license is granted. I am not completely sure about work during the eval period if you already have a license, but I have a vague memory that the license gets temporarily suspended by the board of nursing until the program eval period is complete and then you have a bunch of stipulations (cannot work nights/evenings, cannot handle narcs, have to attend your allotted monthly group, have to be available to report for random drug tests that same day, etc). It will all be in your eval contract.

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So even if you pass with flying colors there would still be stipulations with regards to working? 

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If you are a nurse already, your licensed is suspended until the evaluation period is complete.  Ramp will decide wether you can go back or you need further monitoring.  
If you are an applicant, they will support your license after the evaluation period is complete( 3 months).  You can’t have any positive drug test.  
you won’t have your license until then.  

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Specializes in ICU.
20 minutes ago, Jewel812 said:

So even if you pass with flying colors there would still be stipulations with regards to working? 

If you're a new RN applicant, no. For example, my DUI was 6 years before I even applied to nursing school. However, if you're already a nurse and the DUI was recent, they're more likely to scrutinize you and keep you in the program. Be very careful. I advise you to consult a nurse lawyer, as I did. She had experience with many people trying to fight the program and told me to follow the rules very carefully. (even down to avoiding foods with hidden alcohols, like vanilla extract. the list is extensive and I watched someone get an additional 2 years tacked onto their original 5 because her smoothies had vanilla extract and the blood test cannot distinguish between that or a glass of wine). Good luck.

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It depends on the drug screening.  
if the result for all of them is negative, and your evaluator doesn’t see any red flags, you should be fine.  

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Specializes in LTAC.

Anita121212

I have been licensed for 20 years and was just recently refered to RAMP. I was told by the coordinator on the phone that our license is NOT suspended to inactivated during the evaluation period. When I told her that I heard that from several people she replied “I’m not sure why. That’s not true.” Well I have my intake Monday so I’ll know more then. I think it really depends on the circumstances. As far as my situation, I was referred to them from an incident that occurred more than 2 years ago. I’ve already completed probation as well as IOP and sent them those records. I have been working FT since then with no more issues. I’d be really surprised if they now suspend my license, but who knows. I’ll find out soon enough!

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Specializes in ICU.

I hope it all works out for you! Previously, any drug or alcohol related issues post licensure were all treated with a blanket 5 year RAMP sentence. Maybe the BON and RAMP has lightened up since I experienced it a few years back. Good luck!

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On 11/25/2021 at 7:59 PM, Rox0978 said:

Anita121212

I have been licensed for 20 years and was just recently refered to RAMP. I was told by the coordinator on the phone that our license is NOT suspended to inactivated during the evaluation period. When I told her that I heard that from several people she replied “I’m not sure why. That’s not true.” Well I have my intake Monday so I’ll know more then. I think it really depends on the circumstances. As far as my situation, I was referred to them from an incident that occurred more than 2 years ago. I’ve already completed probation as well as IOP and sent them those records. I have been working FT since then with no more issues. I’d be really surprised if they now suspend my license, but who knows. I’ll find out soon enough!

Please give us an update!

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On 11/25/2021 at 7:59 PM, Rox0978 said:

Anita121212

I have been licensed for 20 years and was just recently refered to RAMP. I was told by the coordinator on the phone that our license is NOT suspended to inactivated during the evaluation period. When I told her that I heard that from several people she replied “I’m not sure why. That’s not true.” Well I have my intake Monday so I’ll know more then. I think it really depends on the circumstances. As far as my situation, I was referred to them from an incident that occurred more than 2 years ago. I’ve already completed probation as well as IOP and sent them those records. I have been working FT since then with no more issues. I’d be really surprised if they now suspend my license, but who knows. I’ll find out soon enough!

Can you give us an update how your intake went?

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Specializes in LTAC.

Evaluation went OK. As I said, my license was not suspended and there are no restrictions on me. I’m still in my 90 day evaluation period.

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