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

The mission of IPN is to ensure public health and safety by providing an avenue for swift intervention/close monitoring and advocacy of nurses whose practice may be impaired due to the use, misuse, or abuse of alcohol or drugs, or a mental and/or physical condition. Their words, not mine. There is nothing unclear about IPN's mission. Public first, then the nurses. Don't misread my position. Your last comments could have been my own 15 yrs. ago. I told IPN shove off. After I sobered up, on my own, just to survive, IPN's function and my place in nursing was clearer to me. Do I like and credit group therapy for my sobriety? Nope. Do I find AA awash in dogmatic platitudes? Yep. But, you can bet your hind end I participate in the activities IPN requires because nursing is more important to me than drinking or drugging. I go to the Nursing Support Meetings & AA and force myself to look for what I have in common with the other participants, not how we are different. I don't belittle other's beliefs, but I do point out what I feel to be delusional baloney. My point is you may see things quite differently after several months of sobriety. Maybe not. Early sobriety is an inherently dangerous time to be making big life changing decisions like kicking nursing to the curb. I'm just say'n..... Smitty

Only you can decide the path to take. I gave up nursing so I could continue to drink. For me, in the long run, that path was a mistake. I think I posted some of the long strange trip here: https://allnurses.com/search.php?do=finduser&u=347169 There was nothing to the IPN hoops after I chose life instead of drinking myself to death; it's harder to drink yourself to death than I ever imagined. Anyway, browse those posts if you have time. If my position on the IPN or sobriety issues are unclear, with the benefit of hindsight, I should have dried out 15 yrs ago. Don't get me wrong, I'm no AA apologist or saved by the Lord convert. That business is great if it adds meaning to your life and provides comfort and direction. You can find your own path and still jump through IPN's hoops, but it will be an exercise in patience like no other. Smitty

Frustration intolerance, Gym? Patience brother... The exact mechanism for communicating disciplinary action from Florida to other states is held pretty close to the BON's vest. If you used an active FL license as a basis for endorsement or reciprocity in another state, my money would be on FL transmitting the disciplinary action to those states post haste. I voluntarily surrendered my initial FL license. That stopped any further investigation or action. It also kept me off the OIG list. This is a situation that is screaming for at least a consultation with an attorney with RECENT EXPERIENCE in FL BON cases. These folks will do a by the hour consultation without requiring a retainer http://www.thehealthlawfirm.com/. Certainly, I need not remind you to get a lawyer if you can afford it. If you haven't signed a contract yet, wait until you see an attorney, they are worth every penny when dealing with IPN; strangely, they get a little more flexable with an attorney on your side. Private message me if you like for more info. Smitty

Morning Grace, Like how I took your questions, avoided them completely, then talked about me, me, ME? Forever a work in progress, I am. You want to apply in Penn., but get every shred of paper you can that relates to the affair in AZ. Download the Penn. Nurse Practice Act and give it a quick precis. You should be able to get a good idea of the Penn. application process if you have a disciplinary history and no current license in another state. In particular, see if there is a way to use your original NCLEX score and avoid retesting. Honestly, if you to have to retake it, don't worry; it was much easier than the old 2day pencil & paper NCLEX. If you can afford a consultation with an attorney that has RECENT experience with the BON, it would be money well spent. I should have used an attorney. The process was very straight forward, but when it came time for my evaluation by an addictionologist, IPN gave me a choice of three local docs. I found out too late, from an attorney, that I could have seen an approved doc. several hundred miles away, and at nearly twice the cost, but he used polygraph and hair drug testing during his evaluations and could have cleared me without requiring ongoing monitoring. The local doc. took my $600.00, said I sounded sober to him, and then asked to see the documentation supporting my sobriety. I guess I could have written myself a note. Anyhow, the monitoring is a snap when genuinely sober, and my how time flies after turning forty. I wish you good luck, though I firmly believe 95% of luck is careful planing and hard work. And, as Yoda might say, Do or do not, there is no try! Smitty

Grace, I avoided all the OIG trouble surrendering before revocation. My meltdown also occurred over 10yrs ago, which may have helped to. At any rate, in FL I was required to apply for a new license, as though I never had one. I disclosed my former troubles and made a Board of Nursing appearance. In FL our alternative to discipline is the Intervention Program for Nurses (IPN). They make all the TX and monitoring decisions independent of the BON. So, the BON said I could be licensed again after (1) an IPN evaluation and monitoring contract if required, (2) a refresher course with a clinical component (200 hrs) and (3) retake and pass the NCLEX. Nothing to it *sigh*... Ipn forced a 5yr monitoring only contract because I couldn't document my six years of sobriety, I studied my rather unattractive ass off then passed the NCLEX (I took the NCLEX on paper in the late 80's the first time). My refresher course clinical was at the hospital that **** canned me in 96', oh the irony. So, I took the time to find my old boss and apologize for my past transgressions in case we passed in the hall or something. She was so complimentary I was rendered nearly mute and left in tears. And, as if all that wasn't enough, she said to use her as reference. I spent several months looking for work without any luck. You know what's coming don't you? My old boss got me a job doing research work the physician's group that staffs my old hospital. And once again life proves to be stranger than fiction. My advice to you my friend: Just do it! Don't waste another day. Get hold of your BON and get started. The road is long, expensive and at times, painful; if you were a natural for nursing, don't wait another day.

Hey Grace, I'm not sure if your query was directed my way; I've lost track of this thread. If so, I voluntarily surrendered a FL RN license to PREVENT revocation. I never thought I'd return to nursing, but when my best efforts to drink myself to death failed, I changed my mind. Every state seems to vary, in one way or another. I can give you the lowdown on the FL routine if that would be helpful. Private Msg. me or leave me a note here & I'll post more info. Smitty

Super effort sir, but please permit me to suggest a quick double check of spelling and punctuation.

No public list exists. The status of your license can only be changed by a BON order.

Nicole, How did the evaluation go? Smitty

Hey Nicloe, there is nothing to the IPN eval., besides several hundred dollars, payable in cash only. Each evaluator is slightly different. I completed a long questionnaire about medical and drug use HX. Then a medical assistant went over the questionnaire and repeated a lot of the same questions, recording the interview on a laptop. They did have me give a urine drug screen (billed separately of course). The doc then went through the HX forms and what the MA recorded with me. He did a mini mental status exam and cursory physical exam. It seemed to me, they were looking for inconsistencies between the questionnaire and the different interviews. Being honest and upfront is important in recovery, but I caution you to disclose wisely. This is probably not the best forum for extensive analysis of the minutia of familial dysfunction. You will at some point during "recovery" see a therapist of some sort. The more complicated the evaluation is, the more complicated the TX will be. So, try not to sweat it. Hold your head up high, exercise some patience and this too shall pass. Smitty