Not going to sign TPAPN Participation Agreement. What comes next?

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Got my psych evaluation done for Texas’s TPAPN program a couple of weeks ago and it’s finally come around to signing time. Been going to AA for over a year, went to in-patient treatment, got my own psych evaluation done. Still got 3 years. Random drug screens & monitoring (I don’t have a problem with), therapy three times a week which I can’t afford and monthly appointments with a second psychiatrist which I also can’t afford.

I think I’m going to refuse to sign the participation agreement and leave the program. For a guy with autism becoming a nurse in the first place was probably a bad career choice.

To people who have left TPAPN or a similar program, what happens next? I know they’re going to report me to the board ultimately. What’s the best way/what are my options to leave nursing and make as little “noise” as possible?

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Specializes in OR, Nursing Professional Development.

Have you consulted an attorney familiar with nursing? www.taana.org is a good resource for that.

Another point to consider is that if there is any action taken against any license, it will affect applying for a license of any other type. Action on your nursing license will cause issues if you choose to leave nursing for another career that requires a license.

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I'm not too worried about the licensing issue; I'm looking to go back to school for my master's in bioinformatics and work in health data science. You bring up a good point about consulting with an attorney. I'm hesitant to do that though as finances are tough right now; I'm past the point of hiring someone to fight my case - I'm just looking to minimize any possible blowback.

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Specializes in OR.

There are things you can do with the nursing degree but without the license. This bioinformatics you speak of sounds like it might be such a thing. I wonder if you can contact the board and ‘voluntary relinquish’ your license prior to the program bawling you out to the board. Regardless, it would be public and should you ever choose to return to nursing or do anything that required a state license of some sort, you’d have to sort out the TPAPN fiasco. This is all my musing and should be verified with calls to the board or an attorney. One sure thing though is that I would not merely sit back and let them run over you.

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I agree with speaking with a lawyer that specializes in licensing. Most in my experience will offer a free consultation, call at least 3 and see what they have to say.

best of luck! Prayers and positive thoughts!

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Specializes in Psych, Corrections, Med-Surg, Ambulatory.

When is your license up for renewal? If it comes up prior to any further dealings with the Board, the quietest thing would be to just not renew it.

The next best thing would be a voluntary surrender but that would create a record. Hopefully your attorney can help with this.

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@TriciaJ You are brilliant! My license was initially delinquent because I was in Minnesota which is non-NLC and I was looking to renew it. I’m just going to let it lie, give myself 1+ years of being sober, getting myself drug tested at least once a month on my own and then re-apply and probably avoid TPAPN altogether.

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Specializes in Psych, Corrections, Med-Surg, Ambulatory.
20 hours ago, AesthesiaSeeker said:

@TriciaJ You are brilliant! My license was initially delinquent because I was in Minnesota which is non-NLC and I was looking to renew it. I’m just going to let it lie, give myself 1+ years of being sober, getting myself drug tested at least once a month on my own and then re-apply and probably avoid TPAPN altogether.

When I suggested not renewing I thought your intent was to just get out of nursing with as little fanfare as possible.

If your intent is to at some point resume your career, it's hard to say what might come back to haunt you. Depends on your state board, what their issues with you are, etc. In some states trying to renew a lapsed license might create a bit of red tape.

Probably still a good idea to consult a lawyer familiar with Board of Nursing issues so you don't get unpleasant surprises down the road. Good luck.

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