Help! New grad RN in CA with probationary license

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Hello All!

I am in desperate need of help/advise/words of encouragement, to make a long story short, I was convicted of DUI in 2010 during the last semester of my ADN program. I was never convicted of anything before besides this and I am sincerely remorseful of what I did, I have completed the necessary programs required of me from court and I am currently paying the fine associated with my conviction. With persistence, despite of my conviction after 1 year of graduating I was able to the take the NCLEX last June and have successfully passed it and obtained a probationary license. I am not subject to any random drug/alcohol testing nor am I required to attend an AA based on my MD and Psychiatric eval (my probationary monitor also send me a letter to confirm this). But i have had difficulty finding my first RN job. Part of it is due to my lack of experience and my probation. It has been 7 months and I am still unable to secure employment. I have applied virtually everywhere in OC, LA and Inland empire, my efforts landed me 4 interviews but to no avail. I am frustrated and quite frankly thinking of switching career at this point. I am fortunate enough to be employed in a medical lab but my passion and heart is in nursing, if there is anyone out there or here in California who could boost my morale I would really appreciate it!

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Frankly, I think your inability to find a nursing job has got more to do with today's economy than with your DUI conviction. There are new grads out there that graduated over a year ago that are still undemployed as well as experienced nurses that are having a tough time finding a job. Hospitals are tightening their belts and most of them have eliminated any new grad nursing programs that they had.

I would recommend that you look at long term care facilities and rehab centers to at least get your foot in the door and some experience under your belt. Once you've been there a year, then I would start applying at hospitals.

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@watersamy: thanks for your reply. I have tried that as well, and went with people whom I know from hospice and SNF since hospitals tend to be selective with their candidates. So far, these facilities aren't hiring either. I'm frustrated really, and quite depressed on wether I would ever land a job. If experienced RN's and new grad with no conviction are having difficulty, what more RN's like myself. :-/ My apologies for venting. I just wonder if I would ever get over this.

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just saw this on this site. thought I would send it along in case you're interested. Its in CA, its a pediatric RN new grad residency program. RN Residency - Loma Linda University Children's Hospital - RN Residency in Pediatrics Important Dates?

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@watersamyThank you so much for the lead! I appreciate it a lot!

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Have you thought about detox/substance abuse nursing jobs? Its unfortunate but even in the nursing field, there is discrimination and stigma associated with people who have a history of these issues, even if they are in recovery. These types of nursing jobs almost always say that they accept nurses in recovery, as long as they have been in active recovery for a certain amount of time (I've found in my area, its 2 years). I think that if nursing is what you want to do with your life, you can and will find a way to do it...if the incident happened in 2010, you should be very close to having 2 years of sobriety...do whatever you have to do to get through this probationary period because once its over, you can get the hospital/specialty jobs...don't give up, you have an experience that can help your patients. I think people are so quick to judge anyone who has had any kind of issue with substance abuse or even just made a stupid mistake...even though we treat people everyday with mental health/substance abuse issues.

Even if you don't identify as someone who has a substance abuse problem, you have now experienced what its like for people who have made bad decisions, changed their behavior, and still face the stigma associated with those decisions. Keep your head up, use any networking contacts you have, and don't give up! You might find that mental health nursing would be a good gateway into the field and if you want to transition out into something else, you can do that. But either way, you have gained some life experience that will be beneficial to your future patients.

Good Luck!

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Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.

I can't add much to ocnurse1's post, but having been in recovery myself for 20 years, I believe that nurses who have had substance abuse or mental health issues in the past are in a unique position to help others in those circumstances. Having experienced such things ourselves lends a note of authenticity to the patient teaching and counseling roles, and nowhere is teaching and counseling more important than in addictions treatment. I urge you to take a serious look at drug/alcohol rehab facilities, and to keep working your program (whatever it is :)). Good luck to you, and congratulations on fighting your way back from DUII!

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Thank you so much ocnurse1 and vivalasviejas for all the words of encouragement, and I agree with you both. It's been a rough and tough road for me, but ever since my conviction I have been extremely cautious with my decisions and especially situations that could lead for such mistake from re-occurring. I have been looking into psychiatric facilities and have actually applied at a couple this past 3 weeks. I will persistently follow up. I do hope however that all my labors would bear fruit and hopefully soon.

But I am human and it times it does get into me, but I will try harder to continue to keep my head up. Again I thank you both for dedicating your time in responding to this post!

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Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.

You're very welcome. Please keep us posted and let us know how your interviews go. :hug:

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I'm currently in the same situation, can anyone would like to shed some light on the process will run across when applying to take a RN and how do i go about getting a md and psychiatric veal so I'm not subjected to random drug test

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