Probation resource CA

Published

Hey all. I wanted to share as much as I can with my current probation as I had so many questions coming into this. I testes positive for an illicit drug I was not expecting to when giving a sample for my annual physical. No retest was allowed. Complaint was filed by my employer and then I want to say about 4 months later the investigator for the BON reached out to me. I had to provide consent to get my UA results sent to him and then an in person interview where he went over all the details of what I thought could happen, and what caused a positive. My biggest regret was not getting an attorney right when I was notified by my employer that they were going to file a complaint to the board. I say this because although you believe the board or even your union, has your back, they don't. And only trained attorneys will know the best way to navigate through this type of situation. Some time after your interview, you will get an order from the Attorney General, DO NOT MISS THIS. I believe you have 90 days from the time it is received or mailed to you to respond. They ask if you have counsel or if you will rep yourself. I said myself as I thought I wouldn't need an attorney, I am just going to comply. Nobody can ne upset wit a good nurse who complies, who has never been in trouble, survived the COVID craze, saved lives, etc, etc. That stuff doesn't matter. Anyway, I was going along with the AG and he said I could go to AA/NA and take some random drug screens to show I am committed to sobriety. I got a few letters of recommendation from peers and supervisors. This is all what the AG had said could help me get an offer for probation, because if the board does not offer probation then its a revocation. If you do not respond to the initial letter they send to your address from BON breeze website they have online, you are SOL and they will revoke your license without even telling you. The investigator tells you this in a way but he also works for the BON so he is on their side and -200000000 helpful to you. He will not answer questions or help you in any way, He is not empathetic, and quite frankly is just cold. You will feel like a straight up criminal, not a caring nurse who has served your community for YEARS!! Again all business and nothing else with those investigators. Okay so working with the AG and finally getting closer to a possible court date for a decision was getting closer, I finally got an attorney because I knew I was out of my league and the AG works for them not me. Also understand you do not want to go to court. You will have to pay for everyone's time for a trial and then get an attorney. Again, once you get the complaint or know you will have one, LAWYER UP. They know how to speak to the AG and BON without you possibly digging yourself deeper. I went into my interview without help and I regret that. During this time that I was waiting for my interview there were no changes to my license, It wasn't until after my interview that they drew up my complaint as well as my response to NURsys. That's when I was eventually caught by my employer when starting a new contract. They didn't renew me and I was jobless. My attorney had a flat rate of 7500. Once I got an attorney I no longer spoke to the AG, she did. And these attorneys know the AG who is on your case and in the end they are working with them to get you that probation before having to go to trial. So I had UA submissions I paid for, records of NA, lawyer requested more proof of this and that as the AG asked for, More evidence of recovery. After I had my attorney, about 3 months out was my set court date and they california BON didn't agree to probation until the day before my court date. Phew. SO with this discipline you agree that the accusation is true and that you are willing to do anything and everything to keep your license, which of course they know you will. Then they said the board would come up with an appropriate discipline and let you know 30-90 days after the docusign is sent when you will start probation. Mine was a little over 90 days when I got an email from my assigned probation monitor. We had a set date of when I would start and we had a zoom meeting one day before the start. We reviewed the discipline and she answered any questions I had. The discipline is everything you've heard. random specimen collections, check ins 7 days a week, NA/AA and nurse group once a week. mental health and physical eval from an approved provider which is roughly 2-3k. This eval will let the board know if they recommend you to more counseling visits. Which if they do, the Dr will be the judge as to how often and what not, and all these sessions will also come out of pocket and are mandatory. My specific testing is for drugs and alcohol. This is made clear in the terms of your discipline. NO ALCOHOL, not even kombucha as it contains some alcohol, and obviously no drugs. If you are prescribed meds, this needs to be reported and will have to also be approved by your mental health provider who is also approved by the board. They have a list to "help" you find a provider or if you find your own you will have to send in their CV and get approval. These specific providers typically have a cert in how they will work with us nurses in this program. I am assuming this is why their services are so expensive. These are not your average PCP but addiction specialists because one mess up has deemed you an addict. And no amount of character letters from even the pope will change that in the eyes of the board. So I am new to this program and wanted to share as much as possible to be a helpful resource to any and all. lmk if you have more questions. I will try to respond with all I know. 

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Hospice.

Unfortunately, the CA BRN basically orders probation or diversion regardless of whether you had 1 DUI in your lifetime while not working or were fired from multiple jobs for walking around with an IV in your arm and diverting drugs from patients. I also hired an attorney and spent 6K only to learn after entering nurse support group, that you'll basically get the same "sentence" whether you have a lawyer or not. I'm sorry that this happened to you. It's not fair or appropriate, but it leaves us with no choice but to comply and spend the 20k or so that it costs to get our license back, not to mention the challenge of finding a job on probation, not being able to travel etc etc. 

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I'm so nervous. I recently tested positive for a pre employment test but I did not actually do any drugs. I had a sexual relationship with someone that had been using and obviously it had affected me and my results. I explained this but of course my word is nothing in this case. Any advice to prepare for the road ahead? I'm in Ca 

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Yeah unfortunately it doesn't matter. It could happen right in front of them but a positive is a positive. I still say get an attorney. And although there are some people who didn't use an attorney, I did. They will help guide you through the investigation, what to say, what not to and help you in making you look good to the board so that you can be offered probation. 

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Justlookingforanswers said:

I'm so nervous. I recently tested positive for a pre employment test but I did not actually do any drugs. I had a sexual relationship with someone that had been using and obviously it had affected me and my results. I explained this but of course my word is nothing in this case. Any advice to prepare for the road ahead? I'm in Ca 

Not trying to be rude and I hope things work out for you. If your argument is that you received a positive result due to your partners body fluids, that's not going to turn out well. It's not possible. If your argument is that you were unknowingly drugged by your partner, then this argument will also hold little weight, EXCEPT....did you file a police report? If you filed a police report, you have a valid argument and you become the victim here, but if the argument is your partner used drugs, and that person's bodily fluids actually caused you to test positive, well....that's bordering on impossible. If you were drugged, and your argument to the BON is that you were unknowingly drugged, then what would any reasonable human with any kind of common sense ask for? The BON will ask. What proof do you have, for example, where is the police report? I'm not trying to be rude. I'm just trying to give you a frame of reference as to what the BON is thinking or how they would approach it.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Join the Discussion