Felling life on life's terms

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Specializes in ICU/Ortho/Med surg.

My name is ********* and I am an addict.

How does one find a job after screwing up so many times, finding recovery and starting over in this profession? I have always tryed to be the best nurse I could be and have tryed to always put my patient' safety first; even when I was in active addiction. Any experience, strength and hope with this from others that have been through it would be greatly appreciated. I have been unemployed since May '09 with little hope of finding a job since I have no ref's. I am in recovery and have really thought of leaving the profession alltogether. I am male and my perspective; though maybe somewhat skewed, has been that men have to rise to a much higher level of practice than our female counterparts. This has left me bitter and dealing with alot of resentment that I have to surrender sometimes on a daily basis. My disease reminds me of all the times I was working and called to meetings to "interview" potential nurses in diversion programs who were "starting over". I can recall how I felt about them then and it was always a feeling of "everyone deserves a second chance" and for the most part, they all worked out fine.I want someone to give me the same chance. I am not in a diversion program nor have I ever diverted drugs.My license is not in jeopardy however, if I don't find work soon I will eventually have to surrender them due to not working. Unfortunately my disease hit me in the prime of my life when everything was going good...I thought cocaine would make things better and I have paid the price for that mistake. I go to interviews and the people are polite and they always say "you are welcome to apply" but no job offers.

Thanks for letting me share

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My name is ********* and I am an addict.

How does one find a job after screwing up so many times, finding recovery and starting over in this profession? I have always tryed to be the best nurse I could be and have tryed to always put my patient' safety first; even when I was in active addiction. Any experience, strength and hope with this from others that have been through it would be greatly appreciated. I have been unemployed since May '09 with little hope of finding a job since I have no ref's. I am in recovery and have really thought of leaving the profession alltogether. I am male and my perspective; though maybe somewhat skewed, has been that men have to rise to a much higher level of practice than our female counterparts. This has left me bitter and dealing with alot of resentment that I have to surrender sometimes on a daily basis. My disease reminds me of all the times I was working and called to meetings to "interview" potential nurses in diversion programs who were "starting over". I can recall how I felt about them then and it was always a feeling of "everyone deserves a second chance" and for the most part, they all worked out fine.I want someone to give me the same chance. I am not in a diversion program nor have I ever diverted drugs.My license is not in jeopardy however, if I don't find work soon I will eventually have to surrender them due to not working. Unfortunately my disease hit me in the prime of my life when everything was going good...I thought cocaine would make things better and I have paid the price for that mistake. I go to interviews and the people are polite and they always say "you are welcome to apply" but no job offers.

Thanks for letting me share

pinfinity,

From what I gather out of your post... you are NOT being monitored, and have no restrictions?? If this is the case, you are in a better place than many here, and don't need to provide your addiction when interviewing.

Not knowing your whole story, it is hard to reply... but do know that in general for the nursing field, jobs are very tight currently, and employers can be very selective in hiring, and any blemish can make the difference in hiring or not hiring.

I would ask what you say in your interviews, and cover letters, and how your resume looks. I would also ask what jobs you have applied for, and hope that you are open to all areas in nursing.

It is not clear how long you have worked as a nurse, you indicated that you have seen many nurses in recovery get hired, and were involved in the decision process, yet you have NO references??

I personally have had trouble with having references, and had several jobs that my manager would not have spoken well about me. I circumvented this by getting copies of my evaluations, using other nurses or doctors, and hoping that any potential employer would not want to talk to my manager.

Just a few thoughts for you, please know that my intentions are to help and not to offend you.

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Specializes in ICU/Ortho/Med surg.

No offense was taken. I have been a nurse 14 years in a variety of settings. Unfortunately most of these jobs I quit without notice.(they don't give notice when they fire you ;tit for tat?lol) I am curious, how does one go about getting performance evals from employers where one has quit and is a "no rehire"

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No offense was taken. I have been a nurse 14 years in a variety of settings. Unfortunately most of these jobs I quit without notice.(they don't give notice when they fire you ;tit for tat?lol) I am curious, how does one go about getting performance evals from employers where one has quit and is a "no rehire"

I am not sure if there are state regs about this, but in my case, I just call HR and requested copies. II had to go there to pick up and signed something also.

They are about me and I am entitle to see them and get copies. If they resist, mention that you will contact the county bar association and ask them if this is legal. Also ask why they don;t want to hand it over. You signed it and discussed it and now need it for reference for a application.

Going forward. always get a copy at the time of evaluation for your records.

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