Life after probation

Published Mar 12

1 Post

Hello,

I'm just going to be very honest and say that I got arrested for a DUI. It was dropped to wreck less driving (largely due to what happened during and after my arrest). But basically I got arrested. Was definitely intoxicated. I was already having the worst day of my life and the officer just would not drop the fact that he thought I was a major idiot. I end up snapping, went off on the officer, go to jail and bail out. I immediately called my boss to let her know what happened and she kept telling me not to freak out and it would be okay and not the end of the world.

Wrong. The officer actually submitted my body cam footage to both my workplace and the board of nursing (before anyone asks if it is legal to do that, no it isn't and I get asked that a lot. That is part of why my charge got dropped down). I got place on a 1 year probation. Basically I drug test every other month and go to AA. I quit drinking before I got put on probation, it was a problem for me prior to getting arrested and I was just done with it. I haven't drank since that day and have moved on.

that being said, I am currently working in probably THE WORST nursing home on the planet. I'm staying here through probation and I am grateful for the work (and love the residents) but they follow the "short staff as a business model" and some days I have 55 patients and am passing meds for half of them. It isn't safe at all. And my mental health is really struggling there.

I have a few months left on probation and would like to work in home health, my husband and I had been talking about opening our own home healthcare business when we move to Texas. However I'm worried I won't be able to get a job at all in that industry after having been on probation.

just wondering what my life might look like after I finish up my probation I guess. The board did not leave out any details, so they included my initial BAC (which was deemed inaccurate by the courts) and my lab BAC, as well as everything I said to the officer.

before anyone comes at me, I know I'm a massive idiot. This occurred 2 years ago now and by the time I'm off probation I'll have been sober for 2+ years, getting married next month, and just enrolled to finish my BSN. So I have made a lot of positive changes to get my life back under control and I still go to my therapist (not ordered) to continue working on how I got to the point of crazy that I ended up getting to.

I just know that if I have to stay in this type of work environment for the rest of my life, that I will quit nursing altogether. And I'm scared this might be the answer for someone who screwed up as bad as I did.