WanderER18

Hi there, I can chime in on this. For context, I'm in Texas, 22 years experience in ER/Trauma primarily, and the last five years in leadership/addiction nursing. I successfully completed three years of board monitoring in August 2024, and no NP school would even look at me while I was under disciplinary action. I get it, but felt very frustrated, as my own journey into recovery has changed the entire trajectory of my nursing career and I wanted to become a PMHNP and work with the substance abuse population. It probably wasn't the most emotionally-healthy decision, but it frustrated me they wouldn't let me even apply, so I kinda said * *** and went and got a different graduate degree. I graduated in 2023 with a MBA-Healthcare Management, while under board monitoring, and at the same school I got my BSN from a decade prior. So I finally finished my monitoring program last year, without even missing a single day of check-ins for drug test selection, and doing everything totally by the book. I felt such relief to be done and couldn't wait to apply at the same university for a third time to NP school....finally! I applied a month after completing my monitoring, and felt so defeated all over again when I got a letter in the mail asking for a response explaining every line of my past discipline. I'm definitely not playing the victim as I own all my actions that led me to that moment, but I had more than paid my dues I felt, successfully completing the program, in a strong program of recovery, and by that point almost five years sober. If my recovery program has taught me anything, it's perseverance, resilience, and courage, so I wrote the letter, all 10 pages of it, and ended it with the fact that the entire reason I am applying again for my third degree from their university is to go work in the one field that my dark past is now my greatest asset. Fast forward, I'm halfway through that program now, and I'm heavily involved in advocating for things to change for people that overcome adversity and give of themselves in a field where we desperately need more compassion, empathy, and for people to seriously be educated on the disease model of addiction (I spent 14 years as an ER nurse prior to my addiction and did not understand the disease model, and didn't until I was a patient in treatment myself). Let me know if I can help in any way!!