If you are drunk, don't drive!

Nurses General Nursing

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If you are a nurse, and you drive while you are drunk; the Board of Nursing can suspend your nursing license for good!!! This is hard to believe...but it is true!!!!

Specializes in CT ,ICU,CCU,Tele,ED,Hospice.

i have read this whole thread .but unless the nurse is drunk going to work or at work it is not the BONS business if the nurse gets a dui .the BON only has the right to affect a nursing license if it is nursing related.ie related to the job as a nurse then the pt is at risk.i am not saying getting a DUI is good cuz its not .one should not drink and drive .but to say just because the nurse got a DUI she/he should not be a nurse is assinine.people 1st nurses 2nd.people make mistakes.

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Specializes in Brain injury,vent,peds ,geriatrics,home.
If you are a nurse, and you drive while you are drunk; the Board of Nursing can suspend your nursing license for good!!! This is hard to believe...but it is true!!!!

why would anyone do that anyways?one stupid mistake like that could take someones life!I used to work on a brain injury unit.A lot of those poor souls(most stuck in a vegetave state)and thier families suffered immensely.Most of the cases were related to drinking and driving situations.I absolutely HATE that anyone would be selfish enough to get behind the wheel after drinking.

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Ok, but how about the same for the doctors?

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I think that we as a profession should examine a carte blanche policy such as caught drinking and driving lose your license. We need to consider the circumstances for the person's DUI and not just go about it hastily taking a person's right to practice away from him/her.

What one does on one's own spare time is his/her business and should not be the business of others to condone or condemn.

Are we not taught in nursing school to withhold judgement until we consider all the evidence surrounding a patients circumstance? Shouldn't we do the same for our fellow nurse?

Um, so are you saying it's ok to drive drunk if I have a good excuse? It's okay for me to get a DUI because after all, I had a tough day....but haven't we all. Never seen a judge dismiss a DUI case because the person had a tough day.

It becomes someone else's business the second I drive impaired. I don't think you'd take too kindly if I killed one of your loved ones because I was drunk.

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Do you really need a law to define word for word what is morally acceptable? You would think common sense would tell you that a professional (in ANY industry) should be held to a standard if they fail to do so themselves.

Common sense isn't so common after all. :)

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I don't know...

What's the point of taking the ability to earn a living away from somebody for something that doesn't necessarily affect their ability to perform their job? I can certainly see it for being intoxicated on the job, diverting drugs, even using drugs (since it's not unreasonable to suspect that they will divert drugs). I could even see losing one's license for drinking a certain number of hours before one's shift (like an airline pilot). All these things directly impact on job performance and patient safety. Of course then we might have to also discipline nurses for not getting enough sleep before their shift or working too many hours in a row (like a trucker). Once we start on that slope anything's possible.

If it's simply a matter a matter that the nurses should know better, how many nurses smoke? How many are grossly obese? We all do dumb stuff when we should know better.

You become a nurse to save people, not to kill them by driving drunk. If you drive drunk, there is a pretty good chance that you can and will kill someone. As a nurse, I am sure you take care of many patients that have been affected by a drunk driver in some way. Why would you want to add to the problem?!

My friend was killed (it will be 4 years on 2-9-07) by a drunk driver when she was only 17. She was on her way home from a school dance and was turning on to her street and was T-Boned on the driver's side by a drunk driver and she died about 5 minutes later. She had absolutely no alcohol in her system what so ever. A priest of the church that she was killed in front of held her hand while she cried and begged him to tell her mom that she loved her. The car hit her so hard that it twisted her seat and broke her back. If I had the picture of her car scanned on to my computer, I would post it. I ask you to please think again if this is something you chose to do. You could be taking a sister, daugther, brother, son, grandchild, and best friend away from someone.

This is the last picture ever taken of Alicia. She was with her boyfriend before the dance. It was taken only a couple hours before she was killed.

p><p><img src=[/img]

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Specializes in Med-Surg, Trauma, Ortho, Neuro, Cardiac.
i have read this whole thread .but unless the nurse is drunk going to work or at work it is not the BONS business if the nurse gets a dui .the BON only has the right to affect a nursing license if it is nursing related.ie related to the job as a nurse then the pt is at risk.i am not saying getting a DUI is good cuz its not .one should not drink and drive .but to say just because the nurse got a DUI she/he should not be a nurse is assinine.people 1st nurses 2nd.people make mistakes.

That's the way it is here in Florida. If it doesn't affect their job, the BON doesn't get involved.

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Specializes in Med-Surg, Trauma, Ortho, Neuro, Cardiac.

Mindy your friend is beautiful. That's so tragic.

I wonder if people would say to the one who killed her "it's ok, people make mistakes". Or would they say "off to jail with you for a long time".

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Do you really need a law to define word for word what is morally acceptable?

Absolutely yes!! The term "moral" is wide open for interpretation and it is very dangerous when incorporated into law unless defined. Just who is it you think should define what is and is not moral? The legislature? The judiciary system? Society? A culture? God? The church?

You would think common sense would tell you that a professional (in ANY industry) should be held to a standard if they fail to do so themselves.

On the job yes, but off the job it is nobody's damn business but my own.

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Specializes in Med-Surg, Trauma, Ortho, Neuro, Cardiac.
Absolutely yes!! The term "moral" is wide open for interpretation and it is very dangerous when incorporated into law unless defined. Just who is it you think should define what is and is not moral? The legislature? The judiciary system? Society? A culture? God? The church?

On the job yes, but off the job it is nobody's damn business but my own.

Please no, don't let it be the church.

If a BON thinks driving drunk is their definition of poor moral conduct, then as was stated, we either accept it or we work to change it. As I stated not all BON's feel this way. Some BONs have it specifically defined, such as "DUI", "misdimeaner drug possession", "sexual charges", "any felony", etc.

I think for the most part their definitions of good moral conduct aren't too shabby or discriminatory.

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Specializes in Brain injury,vent,peds ,geriatrics,home.
How about if you are drunk, don't drive because it is stupid, dangerous and illegal. Not to mention you can kill people. It always amazes me when people say things like this, implying that losing your license is much more important.

Ya know??

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Specializes in Brain injury,vent,peds ,geriatrics,home.
You become a nurse to save people, not to kill them by driving drunk. If you drive drunk, there is a pretty good chance that you can and will kill someone. As a nurse, I am sure you take care of many patients that have been affected by a drunk driver in some way. Why would you want to add to the problem?!

My friend was killed (it will be 4 years on 2-9-07) by a drunk driver when she was only 17. She was on her way home from a school dance and was turning on to her street and was T-Boned on the driver's side by a drunk driver and she died about 5 minutes later. She had absolutely no alcohol in her system what so ever. A priest of the church that she was killed in front of held her hand while she cried and begged him to tell her mom that she loved her. The car hit her so hard that it twisted her seat and broke her back. If I had the picture of her car scanned on to my computer, I would post it. I ask you to please think again if this is something you chose to do. You could be taking a sister, daugther, brother, son, grandchild, and best friend away from someone.

This is the last picture ever taken of Alicia. She was with her boyfriend before the dance. It was taken only a couple hours before she was killed.

p><p><img src=[/img]

This is exactly what my point was on my response.This truly made me cry.I have a 16y/o daughter.For sure some of the responders might have a different veiwpoint now.

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