FLSmitty

Welcome aboard, davis! I'm way north of you, so I don't know anything specific about the nurse support groups in your area. I have several IPN related posts here; please feel free to peruse at your leisure. Again, I welcome you. Smitty

$50.00 for this book: http://www.recoverymaintenance.org/workbook.html after you sign a contract & annually thereafter. the nursing support group facilitator gets $50.00/month from all participants & you pay for all evaluations, treatment & drug testing.

Your dealings with IPN are confidential. In the case of non-compliance, IPN will refer the file to the BON with a complaint. At that point, previously protected info may become public record by way of meeting minutes and/or board order. Board ordered disciplinary action is reported to the National Health Practitioner Data Bank. Any trouble with other licenses would most likely arise via that route. A suggestion (not to be construed as advice), do what IPN wants. Smitty

Maybe too late..... https://allnurses.com/nurses-and-recovery/just-wanting-some-411919.html#post3775112

Sounds to me like you're on a roll! Strong work, indeed. If you'll pardon my copy & paste take on interviewing & disclosure (from a suggestion offered to another recovering nurse), here's my two cents: The best time to raise the topic of your recovery status and practice restrictions is in the middle to end of the interview. By then you have had ample time to "sell yourself". A statement such as "I'm very interested in joining your organization and feel that I have much to offer.... I want to also inform you of my current participation in the state monitoring program for nurses.... I have been approved to return to work, and my case manager would be glad to give you additional information as well" will introduce the topic for discussion in a positive way. A manager might cite unfairness to current nursing staff when refusing to hire a nurse with practice restrictions. It may be helpful when discussing restrictions with a potential employer to mention that you have a plan for "Labor Exchange". Generally, that would entail teaming with one or two other nurses at the beginning of the shift to plan the trade of tasks to facilitate administration of your patient's narcotics without overburdening the other team members. Don't forget the post-interview thank you note. Now go knock their socks off! I think the suggestion of nondisclosure is in reference to getting through the personnel office. Disclosure should be saved for the interview with a clinical manager. Smitty

Matt has nailed two of the most important issues for someone long sober & facing an IPN evaluation: your choice of the evaluator & your recovery documentation. Smitty

Sxygmini, I'm glad you're making progress! Remember now, hands at 10 & 2, eyes intently focused on the road ahead and only the occasional brief glance in the rearview mirror is permitted. - Smitty

That's very perceptive, doolot! The "broad brush approach" kicks to the curb many that might otherwise succeed. Until there is a sea change in addiction treatment generally, and in the BON's approach specifically, those of us that wish to continue the practice of nursing are forced to submit or hit the road. Smitty

You might try going through the BON meeting minutes. Reference to applicants with a situation similar to yours should be pretty easy to find. You might be able to compare your case to those who have gone before you. I still think the school that has admitted you could be your resource. Alternatively, you couldn't go wrong by speaking with a lawyer that has recent experience with the BON. Smitty

Hi Cdkipp, The MI. Nurse Practice most likely addresses such a situation and should only be a download away. A little less mind numbing approach would be to share your concern with the school that has admitted you. I can promise you they have had to address those kinds of questions more often than you might think. Best of luck! Smitty

Oh sweet heaven goinnuts, I find myself overwhelmed & paralyzed just reading your post! I can't begin to tell you how many of us have uttered the very same words, struggled with the same issues and left abandoned the careers we loved. My heart aches for you and your struggle. The fact that you are thinking about getting back into nursing already is a good sign. In my case, it took ten years to make that decision. Sooo, where to start... The AA commandment to take one day at a time finally rang true for me AFTER I sobered up. I'm no AA apologist and I will refrain picking on AA. No single thing was more important in daily life or in the reinstatement process. I broke down the many tasks required to salvage my life and career, and I forced myself to tackle the many problems as individual tasks in sequence and ceased obsessing about the enormity of the entire situation. I started taking one day at a time: 1) I used Rational Recovery to sober up, then Albert Ellis' Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy to transform the way I lived. Absolutely everything I have today is because I quit drinking/drugging. Nothing else can come first! 2) I addressed earning a living outside of nursing and saved every last penny possible. 3) I got every shred of paper pertaining to my disciplinary misadventure with the BON. I too hid from the initial proceeding with the board. You need a clear understanding of exactly where you stand. 4) I downloaded the Nurse Practice Act in my state to understand the reinstatement process and chart my course. At this stage, the process diverges by state. In my case, the criminal charges were dropped a year later, and I was able to have the arrest record sealed after a few years of staying out of trouble. My background check is now clear. I had to do a refresher with clinical, take the NCLEX again and sign a monitoring agreement. No wonder I waited ten years, huh? Returning to nursing has been worth every penny, and every moment I've spent on it. I do wish I had done it 10 years earlier, but I have no regrets; the addiction's treatment program at The School of Hard Knocks has proven its self worth the price of admission. Good luck to you my friend! (I really think luck is 95% careful planing & hard work.) We are all here for you. Dispossess that WORTHLESS shame and guilt post haste; go now and reclaim that which you have earned! (Just don't get in a hurry.) Smitty

Jerry Garcia said it best: "Sometimes the lights all shinin' on me; other times I can barely see; lately it occurs to me; what a long, strange trip it's been. Speaking as a card carrying tightwad, never to waste money on unneeded travel, I'd still go to the BON meeting. (The following is NOT to be construed as legal advice). You will be able to find out exactly where you stand with the BON. Specifically, the aforementioned new law, where you stand with IPN, and if you need the refresher. Most importantly, if the new law does apply to you and unequivocally prevents your license reinstatement for another three years, you will be able to withdraw your application to prevent having it denied. That denial would create another negative public record, and might make later reinstatement or licensure in another state more difficult. Did I say I wasn't a lawyer? Smitty

Did you use your FL license to get your OR license? Did you voluntarily surrender the FL license or did they suspend or revoke it? Allnurse is liable to quash this thread if we get further into specifics. You can try to send me an email from my membership page. I don't post a bunch here so I not up to speed on the private message & email exchanges. I think you have to have several posts before you can communicate outside the thread. Smitty

If you apply and provide sufficient documentation to make your application complete, the FL BON is obligated to give you a hearing; the outcome of that hearing is anything but easy to predict. The whole process can be quite convoluted (news flash, huh). Of the many things that could happen, an IPN reevaluation now that you are sober (no matter how long you have been sober) is a given. The BON has made IPN the arbiter (that is not new) of all things substance abuse related. What IPN recommends to the BON goes. Another given, if you have been inactive as a nurse for awhile, is the requirement to take a refresher course with clinical component. I tried to email you some of this info via your member page several days ago; none to interweb savvy am I. Smitty

Network, network, network. Leave no stone unturned, be it across town, or across the country. Use your years of experience to your advantage no matter how they ended. You can and will be successful! Best of luck.... and remember, 90% of luck is planing and perseverance. Smitty