Employability if a previous license was revoked.

[guest1161414]

3 years ago I lost my radiology technologist license due to testing positive for Marijuana. I recently spoke with a lawyer and my game plan is to take a hair test every 3 months for 2 years and test negative for any drug, while attending nursing school. She said theres a good probability I can get my nursing license. 

My question is: can I still get a job with such a black mark on my record? This all happened in Florida. 

[K. Everly, BSN, RN]

If you losing your rad tech license didn't result in any criminal charges and you have no criminal history, then I don't see why a future employer would even find out about that once you got your nursing license. I could be wrong, but I think the question you get asked on employment applications is if your nursing license has even been disciplined or put on probation, not any healthcare license ever. YMMV, and I would ask the attorney. 

That said, it is possible that your state BON may put your RN license on probation immediately after passing the NCLEX (or have probation as a stipulation to sit for testing), which would result in future employers being aware of it. It could pose an issue with employment, but I think it would be something you could overcome if you didn't have a criminal history.

People with worse histories and stories have gone on to have fulfilling nursing careers, but I think it's important to recognize that this will likely lead to a lot of personal stress for you, some sleepless nights, and no guarantees regarding your nursing license or future employment. If you can live with the uncertainty of that while in a stressful and expensive nursing program, it may be worth the risk.