Felon, RN

[morecoffeepls, BSN, RN]

Remember that time I spent 120 days in jail for a felony conviction? Good times. I'd rather not disclose why I ended up there, but I deserved it. My wife & I operated a successful business at the time. We decided to sell it when we had our first child (Leonidas, 6 now). Working 12 hours a day 7 days a week wasn't going to cut it for me any more if I wanted to be around. The call to nursing was too strong to deny, so I started investigating the process.

Try as I might, I couldn't get the State to assure me that I would be eligible for licensure if I graduated nursing school. I figured this would be a good place to start before I even thought about applying to programs. I retained that communication just in case some of the verbiage was ambiguous enough to imply that I would be okay (it kinda wasn't, though), and I began taking my pre-reqs. I do recall having to write an essay about my experience as a criminal when it came time to apply to nursing school. I forget what I wrote, but it was heartfelt I would imagine. I could only assume that decisions like this are made on an individual basis taking into account a variety of factors. All I know is that I really wanted to become a nurse, so I initiated the process and before I knew it I was in nursing school.

Nursing school was not fun or easy. I was naive - I thought it would be. I enjoyed clinical, the camaraderie (commiseration), banging out the accelerated program in 15 months, and a single exceptional instructor (the rest were a bunch of "bad words", as my son would say); but it was pretty rough. But the real stress threatened to turn me inside out when it came time to apply for licensure. My memory is shot, but I think I had to submit another essay to the State. This would have ended me: working that hard, spending all that money, my family suffering along with me, all hopes and dreams for our future pinned to this one commitment, all of it - what if they didn't let me test?

They did, though. I love my job, it's been almost 3 years. I'm board-certified in my specialty, was elected chair of my unit council, am about to finish an RN-BSN program. The future is bright, professionally. My wife is pregnant again, professionally. Life is moving along. Those 4 months away may have been a setback in some regards, but they may have also provided me with the focus and determination to "do the right thing"; which, to me, means recognizing what is important, allowing yourself to dream, and doing what you can to consolidate those two things.

[Reader007]

My wife is pregnant again, professionally.

Congrats. I got a bit lost on the above though.

[Tina Beana]

This is simply wonderful to show God can work in all of our lives and for opening up the discussion that people are in fact able to change for the better. Congratulations to you and your wife on the new addition. I am a new LPN student in Illinois trying to get through dosage calculations! I firmly believe that it took me a long time to decide what I wanted to be when I "grew up" at 32. But keep going and God bless!

[carrie_c]

That's an awesome story, thanks for sharing. I was in a similar situation as you. I went to nursing school and finished knowing quite well that I might not be able to get a license. But like you, the calling was too strong. But somewhere in my heart I knew that God would not fail me. And He didn't. I got my license over the summer and I am working as a nurse and I love it. We learned from out mistakes, that's all that matters now.

[greatnurse55]

what state are you working with a felony?

[carrie_c]

Not sure if you are addressing me or the original poster, but I don't have felonies, misdemeanors. I am in TN.

[PhoenixTech, LPN]

Just check his profile.

[greatnurse55]

I tried to check his profile and I could not bring it up.. can anyone check his profile and tell me what state He lives in .. thank you

[ParkerBC,MSN,RN, PhD, RN]

I tried to check his profile and I could not bring it up.. can anyone check his profile and tell me what state He lives in .. thank you

According to profile, CT.

[PhoenixTech, LPN]

I'm surprised you couldn't find it under the "about me" tab, I did.

He lives in Conneticut (sp).

[morecoffeepls, BSN, RN]

He lives in Connecticut.

[dukes217]

I read your post and you said you had misdemeanors not felonies, so which is it? I'm not being mean, I'm just not understanding what you said in other post.