Initial license and substance abuse treatment

SpankedInPittsburgh, DNP, RN · Feb 18, 2020

I would do nothing that leads to monitoring. If that means waiting I’d wait. If that means not disclosing private medical information I’d do that but I’m no instance would I recommend being in one of these programs. They are expensive, harmful and toxic as hell. Waiting a few months is much better than being stuck in this poop storm for years being at the mercy of the money sucking vampires and the addiction “professionals”. You would recoup the costs of this program by starting work a few months earlier and to have restrictions on you as a new nurse would limit your options

SpankedInPittsburgh, DNP, RN · Feb 18, 2020

I meant to say NOT recoup the costs of these programs in a few months of working

catsmeow1972, BSN, RN · Feb 20, 2020

It’s February now. It’s 6 months. To be brutally honest...WAIT!!! You do not want to have anything to do with these programs. So you have a history of an issue with alcohol. You have been post treatment and sober for 5 years and made it through nursing school in that time and done quite a bit of growing up. I’m guessing All of this happened prior to the idea of being a nurse even entering your head.

All of that being said, in my opinion, for what it is worth, there is nothing that being stuck in this nightmare will do for you. It will not make you a better nurse and will not keep you sober. I’m gathering you are doing a dandy job with your sobriety on your own, however you do it.

Quite the opposite, you would start your nursing career saddled with a contract that would require regular drug testing, ridiculously expensive ‘evaluations’ by people who make bank off of claiming that you are a raging alcoholic that is a danger to your patients, forced 12 step attendance, wether it’s helpful or not, a contract with restrictions of where, when and how you can practice, etc, etc.....also....good luck getting a job as a new grad with such an albatross around your neck.

So yeah....I’d wait until you can, in good conscious answer no to that question. You will save yourself a lot of money and heartbreak.

BSNCO2019 · Feb 20, 2020

On 2/18/2020 at 8:06 AM, SpankedInPittsburgh said:
I would do nothing that leads to monitoring. If that means waiting I’d wait. If that means not disclosing private medical information I’d do that but I’m no instance would I recommend being in one of these programs. They are expensive, harmful and toxic as hell. Waiting a few months is much better than being stuck in this poop storm for years being at the mercy of the money sucking vampires and the addiction “professionals”. You would recoup the costs of this program by starting work a few months earlier and to have restrictions on you as a new nurse would limit your options

Thank you for the advice. I tricky appreciate the honesty here.

BSNCO2019 · Feb 20, 2020

20 hours ago, catsmeow1972 said:
It’s February now. It’s 6 months. To be brutally honest...WAIT!!! You do not want to have anything to do with these programs. So you have a history of an issue with alcohol. You have been post treatment and sober for 5 years and made it through nursing school in that time and done quite a bit of growing up. I’m guessing All of this happened prior to the idea of being a nurse even entering your head.
All of that being said, in my opinion, for what it is worth, there is nothing that being stuck in this nightmare will do for you. It will not make you a better nurse and will not keep you sober. I’m gathering you are doing a dandy job with your sobriety on your own, however you do it.
Quite the opposite, you would start your nursing career saddled with a contract that would require regular drug testing, ridiculously expensive ‘evaluations’ by people who make bank off of claiming that you are a raging alcoholic that is a danger to your patients, forced 12 step attendance, wether it’s helpful or not, a contract with restrictions of where, when and how you can practice, etc, etc.....also....good luck getting a job as a new grad with such an albatross around your neck.
So yeah....I’d wait until you can, in good conscious answer no to that question. You will save yourself a lot of money and heartbreak.

Thank you for this ?I need brutal honesty like this!

It is definitely true that the me 5 years ago would have never imagined I would want to become a nurse. Shoot I didn’t even know if I would make it till the next day!

Like you said, I have done a lot of growing. Part of that includes being patient...

Thank you for helping me see that it’s ok to wait 6 months if it means starting my nursing career off on a better foot.

NMAX · Feb 22, 2020

So I’d like to hop on this thread for similar reasons, if that’s cool...

I’ve been in a similar situation, however I have a class B misdemeanor from 2015, completed probation successfully. I also have a pending charge for possible possession (of MJ), which will need to be reported, from 2018... No word yet on the outcome or any movement on the case.

As if both of these aren’t enough, I also have diagnosed mental health issues and voluntarily hospitalized myself in early 2018 as well (not my best year).

Despite this I completed my BA in Psychology and have been successfully working in the field for years, have been receiving regular treatment, sobriety, etc. I’m more than capable of completing a 2nd degree nursing program and ultimately plan to be a PMHNP.

My question is the same - am I better off taking my time with prerequisites and getting experience until it’s been 5 years since the legal/mental health stuff has passed? I’ll still have to report my diagnoses but I think that’s easier to explain than the other stuff.

Any help is appreciated. I’m stressing about this lol.

SpankedInPittsburgh, DNP, RN · Feb 22, 2020

You didn’t want these people in your life. Take your time