Lawyer Advice

allnurses Guide · Jan 29, 2017

If you are already in a program and have signed a contract it may be too late to have lawyer represent you. Unless you try to claim that you didn't understand the terms you were agreeing to or that you were coerced into signing it. Most nurses are relatively bright people so it's unlikely that you can make the not understanding argument fly. And you would most likely have a difficult time perfecting the claim of coercion. If your only argument is that this is expensive as heck that most likely will not be good enough.

The time to bring in a lawyer is before you sign the contract so that he/she can look for anything illegal in the contract. My husband used to rage against the machine for me saying "This is America and no person can be forced to sign away their civil rights." However these contracts are considered voluntary so they get around many legal arguments.

In my personal experience, I don't know anyone who ever prevailed against the BON even with a lawyer. Still there might be someone out there who has. I would be interested in hearing about it.

Hppy

RiskManager · Jan 29, 2017

From my perspective as a risk manager, you should hire one, especially if you are in front of the BON for substance issues.

Big Blondie, ASN, BSN, MSN, APRN · Jan 29, 2017

I did not hite an atty. i was mailed a board order and couldve had hearing, but was already over a year into TPAPN contract and the order was for me to enter tpapn so there was no reason to challenge it. Plus what they offered me was more lenient than the algorhythm on the website outlines

mississippiRN71 · Jan 29, 2017

I haven't signed a contract yet.

But I have met with a board of nursing investigator and gave a statement.

That was last March so almost a year has passed. I asked to be enrolled in the monitoring program but haven't heard anything from them.

My license is currently active and I'm working in dialysis as a RN.

I informed my boss of my case coming up with the board , she knows I've completed a rehab program and is very supportive.

Only thing I'm concerned about is the fact I didn't complete the 90 day residential program I attended last year ( I stayed 60 days then came home - looking back I know I was scared and I realize I should have stayed the whole 90 days)

I did self report to the board last March and since then I've completed a 10 week outpatient program - 3 nights a week.

Im attending AA NA regularly and I have a sponsor .

Im seriously thinking about a lawyer since I haven't signed a contract yet.

Thanks for responding. I really like this forum .

txrnou · Feb 2, 2017

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txrnou · Feb 2, 2017

Sounds like you're doing everything right. As long as you have documentation, references etc, I think you're in good shape.

mississippiRN71 · Feb 2, 2017

Thank you

Emod · Feb 5, 2017

Hi! I would definitely get a lawyer if you can swing it financially. Remember, the BON's primary focus is to protect the public. Best of luck! Please keep us posted í ½í±Ší ¼í¿¼

catsmeow1972, BSN, RN · Feb 6, 2017

I did not do the lawyer regarding the initial contract crap. In retrospect there are a lot of things I would have done differently, like I would have kept my trap shut regarding giving a statement to any investigator. Unfortunately, you don't know what you don't know.

I did retain an attorney partway through the contract, not to try to get out of it (as wrong as it may be for me, it's still a contract, and I did sign it.) To try to get out of the contract....I would quite possibly succeed, but it would take longer than the time i have left and cost an appalling amount of money. The retaining of the attorney was to get the contract enforced as written and to argue the loose interpretation of very ambiguous stipulations in the contract. If I have to follow a certain set of rules and requirements as stated in the contract, then so do they.

If you have all of your documentation together and your plan is to go in front of the board, your "order" will most likely entail just doing a contract. It seems useless to require you to repeat treatment you've already done, but then there'e not much about this kind of thing that shocks me anymore.

mississippiRN71 · Feb 6, 2017

Thank you.. my case hasn't even started yet and I self reported last Feb and met with the investigator last March and gave a statement. I haven't decided about a lawyer yet , I'm trying to see what results people have gotten who haven't retained a lawyer. It seems like this takes forever. However I'm thankful to be clean and sober for a little over a year now.

catsmeow1972, BSN, RN · Feb 6, 2017

The other reason that I chose to not pursue getting out of the contract is that the damage to my license and my career is already done and there is no getting around that.

Should you go the attorney route, I would be VERY VERY careful about who you choose. My recommendation is to go with one of the huge firms that highly promote license defense. There are two that are easy to find with a little googling. If they do not practice in your state, they can refer you to someone who does. Those are the folks that are going to be well versed in a variety of situations and most likely have some kind of working relationship with the people that run the program At least in my state, the board has nothing to do with the specific stipulations you are handed. The board just sends you to the monitoring program where the specifics of your contract, if any are determined.