Is anyone willing to hire a nurse w/ stipulations???

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I recently was approved for my RN license to be reinstated after 8 years out of nursing due to an alcohol problem. In May of 2013 my license was reinstated by the BON and I was excited and ready for a fresh start. I have been sober for 3 years and have made a complete turnaround not only in my work life but more importantly within myself. I now know the meaning of loving myself, a concept that I thought I would never understand. But it seems that the spiritual awakening I've experienced is not enough for a future employer to give me a second chance. I've put numerous job applications in the San Antonio area and have had 2 interviews but as soon as I disclose my past I am swiftly shot down and the interview is over. No one takes the time try to get to know me and what I have to offer not only as an employee but as a human being that has overcome great obstacles. My current employer is very supportive of my return to nursing (Im currently working in a dental office), and is almost sorry to see me go (if I ever leave)...As I walk away from my failed interviews I feel bad for those who don't have the heart to listen with an open mind.....I have a lot to offer any employer....Sad thing is that they can't get past the PAST.....I know I am living the consequences of my choices and I can only point the finger at myself. I love life now and I should be content with my present life....but I feel like there is a sense of purpose misiing within me and my current profession. I feel like I should be sharing the gift that was given me with others who have felt the emptiness I felt for many years. Patience is a virtue, I hear!! But it is difficult!!! Please if anyone knows of any employers who are willing to hire an RN w/ stips let me know. I come HIGHLY recommended by my current employer and am fully confident in myself that if given the opportunity I have a lot to offer....HELP!!!

Specializes in critical care, ER,ICU, CVSURG, CCU.

AALTCN has mds certification program

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If anyone reads this before tomorrow, I have an interview scheduled in the morning @10am...please send positive, happy thoughts my way. I appreciate your moral support since this is not an easy thing to live thru...THANKS!

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Specializes in Psych ICU, addictions.

Best of luck!

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Thanks!

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Specializes in critical care, ER,ICU, CVSURG, CCU.

positive prayers and thoughts, you deserve this : what type of job is the job? :

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Specializes in ER/Trauma.

Good luck! I will be in the same boat soon too. Let us know how it goes!

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I had my interview this morning. It was in a long term care facility that specializes in psych patients, geriatric for the most part. For the first time since I've started looking for work I had an interview that didn't end in 2 minutes!! I was given the opportunity to talk and share some of my experience with my interviewer. She took the time to go online and look at the order from the board and actually printed it and asked my permission to read it. I told her it was fine since it is part of me for the next 3 years. I say that overall it went well. She said she had to talk to the DON and administrator before a decision was made. The fact that the interview lasted almost 45 minutes was like a breath of fresh air for me. I thanked her for taking the time to listen to me and give me the opportunity to speak and share. Nothing else was said. I didn't even ask what the pay is. I was just content to be treated like a person and not be harshly judged from the get go. Thanks for your positive thoughts and prayers. No matter what happens, I had a little reminder today that there are still kind people out there. Its just a matter of running into them in God's time.

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Specializes in Main O.R. and CVOR.

so good to hear you had a positive experience, smbutterfly!! my group facilitator (i'm in the FL IPN program) stated the more you do these interviews, the more confident you become at them. may I ask if you have had any arrests due to your alcohol problem? do you have a criminal background?

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Did you have to do TPAPN? I have been in TPAPN and clean and sober for two years and 5 months, and have yet find suitable employment for TPAPN.....I have tried everything I can think of. Dialysis used to be okay, but now they work 16 hr days sometimes which would not be okay with TPAPN, but I do not have any experience in that anyway....I went to a DaVita Dialysis job fair, but they did not call. I have been working on my BSN for a year, but can not finish until I get a nursing job. I finally started putting in applications at temporary agencies, and interviewed at Pappa's Seafood House yesterday, because I do not know what else to do. I have applied at every hospital nursing home, home health, LTAC/Rehab facility in the Houston area and around my house to no avail.

I keep saying to myself, why am I even sober? I was just a pot head who drank on my days off. Now my credit is ruined, and I am broke. My mother is paying for my 180/month urine tests, cause I go three times a month every month. I am at a loss. No one is TPAPN friendly anymore. The only job I was offered in December right before Christmas was at a home health company, but my case manager shot it down, and said I could not do that job. All I could say was Merry Christmas.....lol If I had gotten that job, I would be almost through with in December for God's sakes.

I never hurt anyone or diverted narcotics, nor am I an alcoholic. I have read the Big Book of AA twice cover to cover and have been involved in many book studies since, as a result of TPAPN requiring many meetings throughout the program. I found out that I have been living by the twelve steps and traditions my whole life because I was raised Christian, and am a good, honest person with a lot of integrity.

I am so tired of being treated like a convicted felon, when I am clearly not one. I think TPAPN should be on a case by case basis, because I do not believe I belong here. I have spent over 15,000 dollars between my lawyer, Intensive Outpatient, and urine drug/alcohol screens that I know are going to be negative over the past 3 years. I suddenly had labels: cannabis dependent, and alcohol abusive. It's completely insane. If my mother had not been paying for my drug testing, I would have had to quit TPAPN a long time ago, because of the expense of the drug screens alone. I have not worked, and feel like I need to get out of nursing all together and finish my Bachelors in Psychology instead.

It was not all bad though, I had to move back in with mom and dad, August of 2010, and it was just in time. My dad had a muscular dystrophy type disease process, and shortly after I moved in, I made sure my dad got a G-tube, after assessing everything. I helped take care of him full time at home until he died the end of last September from aspiration pneumonia. I worked my program and got to know my dad in a way that was priceless, and I thank God everyday that I could be there for him the way I was. He left me some money so I was able to move out and have my son move home with me from my sisters down the street from my parents. Life was good! I have stayed sober through it all, even though there have been a few times where an ice cold beer sounded really good. I have worked the program like they tell me too, and it works. I am grateful for all that, truly grateful!

Since I cant finish school until I get a nursing job, I have got to get a job soon, or I am going to have to move back in with my mother. Something has got to give. The first thing the recruiter asked me in the phone interview was "do you have any restrictions on your license or has it ever been suspended or revoked?" Jeez.....I thought....that question is also on every application I have seen online in the last 6 months for every major hospital or facility in this area, which is new from 3 years ago. Since everything is online, you cant ever talk to anyone or get the chance to talk before an interview. Your application goes in the garbage and I have put in 700 applications in the last 3 years, without any chance of hope after TPAPN is mentioned, the job is no longer yours, if it ever was to start with. My few bad choices and TPAPN have ruined my nursing career, I am afraid. I do not know what else to do.

Good luck to you! Bethany

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Specializes in Main O.R. and CVOR.

your situation sounds so much like mine, only i'm 2 years behind you. i'm in the IPN program for FL. and, other difference is I have 5 misdemeanors on my record for dui's, pot possession and domestic disturbance. I may as well give up before I sink anymore money into this. IPN could care less about us as individuals. we are only numbers. I've been a nurse since 1989 and have so many great referrals in the past. NOW i'm a criminal not a nurse......

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yes alcohol was a very serious problem for me. I have 5 DWIs. the last one was in 2004. by the grace of God I didn't hurt anyone else. so I do have a criminal record.

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I feel your frustration. its disheartening the way we are judged and treated as outcasts but don't give up. there are success stories out there. it's like looking for a needle in a hay stack. I won't give up. Even if I never get a nursing job again, I AM already blessed. I have a good job at a dental clinic ( I went back to school to get some training as a dental assistant, only 9 mos.) I don't earn half of what I earned before but I have learned that money does not fill the emptiness I once felt. My 3 children are in my life once again. My parents have forgiven me for all the pain I caused them. I think they actually feel proud of me again. I have great friends though very few. But good friends are a blessing from God. I CHOOSE to see the beauty in life now and its blessings on a daily basis. Life is what you make it. And you wanna know what im most greatful for? My sobriety. All those years I tried to fill my emptiness and numb my pain and hurt with things outside of me, didn't work. No amount of alcohol or money or men or any type of material possession can EVER fill what was lacking within me. I needed LOVE......for myself....and when I found myself and loved myself...I FOUND GOD. the one answer I didn't want to hear and rejected when I was looking for answers...That's the craziest thing for me!! And I am not a holy roller and I hardly go to church....but I do have a lot of love for myself, for life, and for others.....and this beautiful place we call earth. That's crazy!!!! That's why this day, I am greatful!!! I know that sounds crazy. but its true. the rest of the details just fall into place with time.

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