SheelaDavis

Yep, if yoir BON and consent order has a stipulation, there is no getting around that. Most states, the majority of state BONs don't go that far. A few do.

I wish you the best. Would recommend telling the truth with your potential employer. Employers want to see humility with people in recovery. An example of humility is not just you doing well in your recovery and you maintaining an a active recovery lifestyle and a good employment status whether in or out of nursing, BUT humility goes further. How are you helping OTHER HUMANS in recovery? This area helps you with potential employers. Why? Part of the core problem with addiction taken from any Recovery 101 textbook is SELF. Self centeredness is one of the core aspects related to addiction. So, they want to see the Opposite of that. Its great that a nurses, we are doing well in recovery. But, are "we' helping others in the same situation. Are we bringing others into recovery or mentoring or helping? Employers like to see that. It goes a long way. I always recommend that when nurses re-enter practice and are in that first interview, yes, you want to get the point across that you are solid in recovery and it's a gigantic part of who you are now, but also be sure to talk about NON-SELF. Follow the above up with how you are helping other people in recovery (which is the perfect example of giving up SELF.) After all, this is Step 12.

When I got into trouble when I was a NP, I was licensed in 5 states as an NP. I got in trouble in one state, which is where I worked and lived, and the other 4 states took action based on me getting into trouble in my home state (which is normal). What did I end up with? 5 NPDB entries and all 5 related to one single event. After completion of my monitoring program at 5 years and my license restored and unencumbered and proven 5 years of completion of a monitoring program, I had 4 jobs over the the next 5 years AFTER monitoring was over. I applied for 5 jobs during my 5 years AFTER monitoring was completed and I got 4 of those 5 jobs. I was only turned down for 1 of the 5, even though Im in the NPDB. The biggest mistake people make, in my opinion with the NPDB, is NOT answering......or by minimizing, blaming, not taking responsibility when they do respond to the NPDB entry. Again, I said this earlier. Your NPDB response statement WILL be seen and WILL be read by future employers 6, 7, 10, or 15 years from now. Its critical to respond to this letter and not minimize, or blame. If you have any questions on how to respond, a medical or nurse attorney is the way to go.. Common sense here. If you are the Boss, the DON, or the Human Resources Risk Management Chief and are making a decision about hiring a nurse with a recovery background, what do you want to see? Would you want to see a nurse who is in the NPDB that offered no response to the NPDB entry, or a nurse that minimized or blamed in their response, or a nurse who didn't complete a recovery program? Common sense here folks. What you would want to see is a letter taking responsibility and proof of your active recovery program completion and ongoing recovery.

Lacolo, It sounds like you are getting completely hosed by your case manager. Many of them, sadly, don't care and are pieces of shi$ with ZERO empathy. I wish you the best. Please remind me not to ever get in trouble in Florida! Good grief. The hurdles they are putting you through are ridiculous. I would still try and reach out to the Supervisor (The Director) of the Florida monitoring program and explain your situation. I would call him or her directly. I would also do the following and this is important if you can't speak with an attorney. 2 weeks is a short time and it's hard to even get an appointment with an attorney in a short 2 week timeframe, much less come up with the retainer fee. Write a letter explaining your sobriety and seriousness with recovery and how your drug tests have been all negative and that you don't yet have the money to come up with in 2 weeks time and send this via email to the Director of the Program. Explain what your case manager told you in the letter. Why would I do this? Because, IF......IF.....they kick you out of the program and you come up with the money in 1, or 2 or 4 months, your chances of being able to get back in and the BON NOT Revoking your license are reasonable because you have explained the situation and your commitment to recovery BEFORE the Florida IPN program kicked you out. You are not writing the letter AFTER the fact, but BEFORE the event. This could serve you very well in the future IF you are removed from the program and you want to come back in 3 or 6 months. The chances of getting your license back from the Florida BON and gaining re-entry into the program go much higher, because somebody setting at the BON will see your issue for removal from IPN wasn't about a positive drug test or true non compliance, but it was financially related. Thats a BIG deal regarding coming back into the program and getting your license back compared to failed drug tests or a bunch of missed check ins. Getting this on PAPER and in the hands of the monitoring program BEFORE you are kicked out of the IPN is a Big Deal, especially if you get an attorney a month or 2 or 6 months down the road. That attorney will have MUCH to work with because the attorney has proof that the monitoring program Clearly Knew your issues were financial and not true Non-Compliance. Even though they will say it's Non Compliance, it's actually not.

WHY A NEURO EVAL in addition to the standard SUD eval? An additional Neuro Eval is NOT NORMAL. It's not common unless you have some kind of mental health history. Do you have a mental health history. Why ANOTHER Neuro Eval in 14 days? What reason did the case manager give for a 2nd Neuro Eval? Do you have to leave nursing? Meaning, could you get a job outside of nursing such as Uber or Door Dash for a few months while doing the monitoring program? If you are not drug impaired, then ask your case manager WHY you can't work? Is it based on the mental health part of the equation? It sounds to me, just by reading, and having very little info about your story or background, that there is something in your history or possibly present regarding a mental health history. For example. What about a straightforward question to your case manager such as.. 1. Since I wasn't impaired and my drug tests were negative at the Neuro eval, under what evidence or guidelines are you telling me I can't work? Why? What did I do wrong so I can improve? 2. Why are you sending me for a 2nd Neuro eval when that is not common and just did one 14 days later? The 2 questions above need answered. Understand this........it's still possible to be a nurse by temporarily NOT working as a nurse and working outside of your profession temporarily. You can still do a monitoring program while working in another job, and then when the case manager says you can work again as a nurse (2 or 3 or 6 months), then start applying for nursing jobs. My point is....once you remove yourself from monitoring, it's pretty much over for your nursing career in the overwhelming majority of cases. It's very very difficult to come back. It may be worth trying to stick it out in the monitoring program for 3 months, even while working somewhere outside of nursing, and then make the decision on whether to continue or leave. Never make a MAJOR decision immediately after an emotional event IF...IF...you can help it. For example, when divorced or death of a family member, etc....you never want to make a major financial purchase or decision until a lot of time has passed because that decision is likely to largely be based on emotion and not pure objectivity. You just suffered a major setback and emotional blow, and I would consider holding off on leaving nursing and continuing monitoring for 3 months, then re-evaluate. In the mean time, trying your best to land another job to have some kind of income. If 3 months go buy and you feel no progress is made eith your case manager or situation and you feel nursing and the monitoring program is not worth it, then leave nursing. If you feel the opposite and 3 months goes by and your case manager says you can go back to work, you may feel different and want to stick it out. Beat wishes to you. Hang in there. If you can't get the 2 questions above answered by your case manager, consider going above him or her. Every case manager has a boss. Every State has someone that is Chief or in Charge of the monitoring program that supervises the case managers. If your case manager is avoiding your questions or purposely vague, go above them, and go directly to the Monitoring Program Chief.

You should enroll immediately in your monitoring program and I know you will not like hearing this, you should then proceed to a Partial Hospitalization Program. You admitted diversion and this is your second go around with the BON. ZERO chance of getting out of this. ZERO. You are going to be mandated to a 5 year monitoring program. Do not let some dumb a%$ come on here and tell you, "My state is only 3 years" and get your hopes us. 47 of 50 states as of Jan 2026 have gone to 5 year programs for diversion (alcohol is different) and for the states that still only have 36 month (3 year programs), even those would require 5 years since this is your second offense and it's for diversion and not alcohol. Enroll in your state monitoring program FIRST, then go away or close by and do the 6 weeks PHP program. Why? Your time in monitoring starts the day you enter the program and your monitoring program will use your drug tests from the PHP program while you are there, so the point is......your monitoring time (the 5 years end earlier) instead of doing PHP program for 6 weeks, and then enter monitoring. After you finish PHP, do IOP, then Aftercare. The additional advantages of enrolling in your monitoring program now and enrolling in PHP now. You dramatically reduce the odds of any prosecution criminally and you reduce the odds of the BON license revocation and you reduce the length of suspension of your license by the BON. For example, if you are aggressive and enrolled in PHP and your monitoring program, the BON is more inclined to suspend for 3 or maybe 6 months instead of 1 year. Here is what is dangerous. Lawyers can be hurtful sometimes. When the evidence against you is clear, and you have a lawyer that doesn't work very much with the BON, the lawyer often advises nurses to "wait." "Wait until we hear something from the BON." That advise is STUPID IF.......IF....the BON has clear evidence against you that is overwhelming and obvious. Since you admitted it already, the evidence is overwhelming and obvious and you ARE GOING to do a monitoring program (likely 5 years) to practice and keep your license. That process ends sooner if you enroll in monitoring sooner. The waiting game that lawyers often play which can drag this out for a year only makes your entire anxious process a 6 year period instead of 5 when you could have enrolled a year earlier in monitoring while the lawyer was playing the back and forth game with the BON that is going to result in the same result for you With or Without a lawyer. I tell nurses this. If the evidence against you is obvious (and admission by the nurse is obvious evidence) then I wouldnt get an attorney at all. They are a waste of money IN THIS SPECIFIC situation. Your best bet is to enter monitoring and PHP, start rhe process, start the clock, start healing, because the sooner you start, the sooner it ends. Now common sense here. If I'm prosecuted, then yes, a lawyer is a no brainer. If Im accused of something I didn't do, lawyer up. If I had a DUI before I entered nursing school, lawyer up. This is your second go around. Trust me on this, you need PHP. It could save your life 7 years from now. See my above post about what statistics say about the importance of PHP after 5 years have gone by. This decision could literally be one that decides if you are still on earth in 6 or 8 or 10 years from now. You said you diverted 1 pill. That would have became 1 more pill at some time or another, then 2, then 4, then...... When you have multiple posters onnthe board telling you that you are minimizing, then take that as a "Godsmack." That is what we call a divine wake up call in recovery circles. I know deep down you don't internally or truly believe you need PHP. That...........is why you are hear. Its part of the core problem and it's why you diverted that 1 pull, which would have advanced to more pills.

RN1987 is not completely wrong. Insensitive? Yep, but not completely wrong. If this is the Original Posters second diversion case, the odds are approaching close to 100 percent your license gets suspended for at least some period of time. At least 3 months and up to 1 year is my guess. Revocation is possible, but unlikely. As for therapy and treatment for the Original Poster, you are in some denial or you simply have a knowledge deficit of recovery and what it requires to stay sober 5 or 10 years from now. I got the numbers below from Minnesota-Hazelden which is a front runner in rehab for Healthcare Professionals in the world. Much of the recovery data in the US comes from Hazelden. Here is Rehab and how your chances of reuse or relapse go back to exactly what the general populations is after the 5 year mark. 1. 6 weeks Partial Hospitalization Program. 2. The PHP listed above is Immediately followed by 6 weeks Intense Outpatient Program. No, you don't get a "break or vacation" in between finishing PHP and starting IOP. 3. The IOP listed above is immediately followed by 52 weeks of Aftercare. 4. During all of the above, from day 1, you attend a minimum of 3 Recovery Meetings per week. Those can be AA, NA, CR (Celebrate Recovery) or SR (Smart Recovery.) You also need to attend 1 Peer Support Meetong weekly, so in total, 4 hours of meetings weekly for the next FIVE years. 5. In addition to the above, a monitoring program where you are randomly drug screened and you check in daily for 5 years. If a nurse or lay person does all of the above and does not use or relapse during this 60 month (5 year period), then their chances of relapsing or reusing after 60 months (5 years) are actually no higher (they become the same) as everyone else in the general population who has never used or never developed a SUD........ with ONE condition. After the 5 years are done and all of the above are completed, they attend TWO Recovery meetings weekly for the rest of their lives. For people that do all of the above, they just don't reuse or relapse in general. Can they relapse or reuse again? Sure, it happens, buts it's highly unlikely. Some would ask the question......."why do so many nurses relapse re-use?" " I know plenty of them." The fact is, very, very, very few nurses or doctors or lay people complete the above steps I wrote WITHOUT a short cut. Whether it's skipping the PHP program and going to an IOP program first (which is a major mistake already from the start because the PHP program should be first) or whether it's only 2 meetings per week instead of 3, or it's skipping Aftercare and only doing the PHP and IOP, there is nearly ALWAYS a shortcut that was taken when people relapse or re-use in the above steps I gave. Yes, the difference in 3 recovery meetings compares to 2 recovery meetings per week in those 5 years IS ALARMING according to Hazelden. After the 5 years are completed and monitoring is over and rehab is well behind you, the difference in attending 2 meetings per week compares to only 1 meeting per week for the rest of your life IS ALARMING regarding risk. It's a gigantic difference and statistically matters! All of the above does NOT come from me. That comes from Hazelden which are frontrunners in recovery and data. So for the OP who asked whether you need PHP? Yes, you need PHP. It would scare me beyond belief if I were a nurse who has a diagnosis of SUD and a nurse who diverted (and I did), and I didn't do PHP, then IOP, then Aftercare, and during all of that time and over a 5 year period, I did 3 recovery meetings a week and 1 peer support meeting. The odds of re-use with only ONE shortcut are very high according to Hazelden.

Thats true, but also false. Yes, it's lots of paperwork, but it's not the paperwork the employer is worried about. They worry about legality. They worry about patients filing litigation against them because some savvy lawyer will represent a patient that could say, "the impaired nurse did me harm and the facility should have known she was impaired." When a nurse is impaired at work, it sometimes reaches the media. The employer then has more worry because some patients and family members and litigation attorneys will Start Looking. They will sometimes look to see if the impaired nurse cared for their client, so Employers historically were less likely to report, BUT..... Nowadays, especially in the last 5 years, the risk of not reporting is too great. The employer can face fines upwards of 100,000 thousand dollars for not reporting and face stiff penalties. Even the Risk Manager of the facility could face litigation personally for not reporting. This is why the absolute overwhelming majority of employers who are in Mandatory Reporting States are far, far, far MORE Likely to now report.

Why or how would the BON contact the facility first? The question is......has the facility contacted the BON? If the facility has contacted the BON which means they reported you, it could take months before the BON opens an investigation and reaches out to the facility for details. If I were good friends with the DON, my question wouldn't be about whether the BON contacted your facility, but it would be about whether your facility contacted the BON and reported you. Odds are, it would not be the DON that reported. It would likely be someone higher up in management that reported to the BON, such as the risk manager in human resources. In this scenario, there's a reasonable chance the DON has no clue if you were reported AND.....there's a reasonable chance your DON has no clue as to whether the BON has contacted the facility back for details about you. My point is.....I wouldn't put much value in your DON regarding knowledge of what's going on. They don't have anywhere near the power as most nurses think. Who holds the power in these situations and who does the communication that often leaves the DONs in the dark is the Risk Management Department in Human Resources.

It's UNLIKELY in MANY situations that the BON will not reach out to you within 2 months of the event. If your event happened 2 months ago, it's very very possible you were reported, but havent heard from the BON yet. It depends on your state law and EXACTLY how your Nurse Practice Act is written. There are specifics to reporting. Some states have 30 days max. Some states have 1 week to report AFTER an internal investigation was done, some states only strongly encourage reporting. The overwhelming majority of states now have mandatory reporting for suspected impairment while at work, but again, there are often specifics such as....involved in direct patient care, and some states have laws written where the employer must report regardless of whether you were involved in patient care. Also, the words "reasonable suspicion" are often used for the threshold for reporting and employers have often used a very difficult or high threshold for reasonable suspicion such as....a positive test is a must or an admission is a must. Diversion is a priority for boards and those cases come first. If your event happened in November, the employer does an investigation that takes a week. By early December, they report. Most BONs are off for 2 weeks over the Holidays. It's very, very possible you were reported and the BON has not officially reached out. For the other poster who had not heard anything in 16 months, that is when I would feel more than confident that nothing will happen. But 2 months? You aren't even close to being out of the woodworks yet. States have cracked down over the past 5 years for not reporting. Employers can face major fines towards upwards of 50,000 dollars in some circumstances and in some states for not reporting.

Sounds like you are getting hosed. I do NOT know your exact circumstances as to how your communication with the BON/Monitoring Program was BEFORE the surgery. I am NOT accusing you. I can tell you this regarding what I've seen. LAZY communication by either the Monitoring Case Manager or the Nurse PRIOR to having surgery has ended careers.. I've seen "surgeries" during monitoring programs end nursing careers and it's usually NOT the surgery itself, it's the poor communication BEFORE the surgery. Example 1. Nurse calls case manager, asks if surgery is OK. Case manager says sure. There is nothing in writing though. Surgery goes well, Nurse tests positive 3 weeks later for oxycodone that was prescribed. Monitoring program calls Nurse and asks what is going on, but one catch, it's a new case manager. The old one retired or quit and the nurse has a new case manager now, and the new case manager knows nothing. See how quickly the above can spiral? The nurse has nothing in writing. 2. Exact same example above except the nurse has the same case manager and does her due diligence and gets everything in writing. Nurse tests positive 3 weeks later after surgery, but case managers boss (the head of the program) wants the nurse disciplined or punished. Seems like the nurse did everything OK above, correct? There's one MAJOR mistake. It's no discussion of the RECOVERY, or AFTER the surgery, the pain meds. It's never really about "the surgery." It's nearly ALWAYS about the pain meds that follow the surgery that communication or lack thereof has buried nursing careers. To the OP, I am NOT accusing you of the above. I'm making this post to all readers and future readers regarding the absolute CRITICAL Written communication that must occur BEFORE surgery and the EXACT plan post operatively for pain management and timelines that follow the surgery regarding how long pain meds can be taken, etc. Remember, with all of the above, add in an Indian MD, Medical Review Officer over the lab where your sample is tested that barely speaks English that has no clue about you or your surgery. Again, see how things can spiral? In a monitoring program, you literally have to use vicious, aggressive communication even to the point of uploading the permission given to you by your case manager into Affinty/Spectrum/Recovery Trek so the Med Review Officer knows you had surgery. Why? Do you really think your case manager will call and forwarn him? Of course not. Its America 2026 and lazy communication rules the day. It also ends careers.

Not always true. Do NOT ASSUME that probation and restriction equals automatic consent order. It does in Most cases, but not all.. I have seen and been in on the kegal hearings for nurses that get into trouble for porn, get into trouble for domestic battery, for tax evasion, even shoplifting, and they got written public reprimand or discipline that puts them on probation and/or license restriction, but no monitoring agreement/consent order because substances weren't the issue. But, for MOST nurses in the USA who are on probation and have restrictions, MOST will also be under consent order and in a monitoring program, and for most states and most nurses in this situation, Hospice will not be an option at least for the first year. Again, possible? Yes. Do exceptions exist? Yes. Likely? No, unlikel far more than likely. If I jump from a 35 foot cliff, is it "Possible" to survive? Yes, it is. Now......how likely is it that I survive? Data suggest very very low chance. We will always hear about the exceptions like 2 nurses that worked in hospice. We hear about the guy that survives the 35 foot fall. We don't commonly read about rhe HUNDREDS of nurses who have either read or posted on this forum over the years that pursued or thought about hospice while in monitoring that were told...No. A wise philosopher once stated, "hoping for the exception brings no harm, but not preparing for what is likely brings great harm. I hope this answers your questions about Hospice. You will notice over the years on this forum, the overwhelming majority of nurses returning to work and working while in monitoring are loaded with mental health, dialysis, corrections, and outpatient clinic nursing. There's a reason for that. These are the jobs they are more likely yo get initially and while in monitoring compared to others.

Here the truth. Overwhelmingly, odds are your employer did not report and they DO NOT have to report in some states for alcohol impairment pending the circumstances and how state law is written. 3 variations (in general) of how state law is written. 1. All employers must report any nurse suspected of impairment. 2. All employers must report any nurse who is involved in Direct Patient Care who is suspected of impairment. 3. All employers are Strongly Encouraged to report....... So, it depends on your state and how the law is written and you can Google that and find it. Also, state law that is written that requires reporting ALWAYS has a timeline. 14 days max to 30 days max is common, 60 days is about as far out as it goes for reporting. 16 months is not possible and unheard of. No employer will contact the BON and say "hey, we want to report a nurse from 16 months ago, LOL, an no internal employee investigation takes 16 months for somebody drunk at work, LOL. 1. What is likely? Your employer did not report because they don't have to or they forgot (and that happens). If they forgot, and they suddenly "remember" 16 months later, then you are still fine. Because if you live in a required reporting state, the employer faces thousands in fines for not reporting on time, so they are not going to report 16 months later. 2. The BON lied. The employer did report and you spoke with a 26 or 27 year old young BON member who was answering calls that day, has no soul or empathy, and simply lies to you (and that happens and the BONs are full of them.) What would I do in your situation? My anxiety would be low knowing what I know. If the BON told you nothing in the works and you have not heard anything after 16 months, overwhelmingly likely you are good to go and the employer didn't report. I would not get an attorney now. I would work and live life. Me personally, I would get DOCUMENTATION of my sobriety, start taking notes, see a counselor or therapist to get it on paper, and I would consider getting my own SUD eval showing no issue and keep that eval in my back pocket just in case. I would also do meetings or something for alcohol. If you are drunk at work, then you are overwhelmingly likely to be an alcoholic statistically, and if so, you can't quit cold turkey forever Without meetings or therapy, etc. Statistical odds say you drink again (near 100 percent) F......IF...you are an alcoholic and you don't do something to treat the alcoholism.

There's a very good chance you complete the 1 year of probation and thats it. It's over. But, I'm preparing you for what the BON sometimes tries to do.