lexielynn

Thank you so much for all of these suggestions. I was feeling pretty hopeless and defeated when I made the original post. You have empowered me!!!

I have been under contract with the BON since August, 2009. I have consistently followed all of the contractual stipulations (UA's, meetings, counceling...) but this past October, when licenses were due to be renewed, I forgot to renew. I was not, and am not, employed as an RN. I realized my mistake in February and sent in an application for reinstatement. I recieved a letter from the board stating that allowing my license to lapse was a violation of my contract and they were issuing a fine of $250.00. The letter stated that once I paid this, my license would be issued. I paid the fine immediately. They did NOT issue my license. I sent letters at the begining of May and July requesting that my license be issued. Still NOTHING....they have not responded and my license is still in a lapsed status. Any time I call, I have to leave a message with a receptionist and no one ever calls me back. Anyone have similar difficulties with their BON? Any suggestions as to how I might handle this?

To JanaRNWV: Pretty close - I'm in Ripley. I would love to compare notes with you. I feel like this whole process has been a guessing game in figuring out what exactly the BON wants. I have learned alot along the way but I still don't have a job in nursing. It's so frustrating as I am sure you well know.

Thank you jackstem for your words of wisdom. I have lurked on this site for about a year and have always found your responses helpful and encouraging. To be honest, my first response to the boards fine & suspension was to #$%@ and moan about how unfair it was but I quickly realized that I was indeed at fault as I had missed the check-in. My states program consists of a contract. That's it - No handbook, No resources, No help and a case manager that will not return phone calls. We are left to figure it out on our own, individually (not a peer program) so I really had no idea how to handle the situation. This is why I reached out - to see how this is handled elsewhere. While I will make every effort to ensure this does not happen again, if it does, I plan to do what was mentioned by Life_is_good_1973 and send a written statement.

My miss was pretty much the same. It was a Saturday (we are never tested on weekends - just have to call in) and I got side tracked and just completely forgot. Monday morning I called the Board office in an attempt to self-report the miss and had to leave a message with the receptionist. My call was never returned. This is not unusual as my contact person avoids talking to me, and I assume others as well, at all costs. Sooo frustrating!!

My contract with the Board of Nursing required daily check-ins with FirstLab with random urine drug screens. I missed one day in May and I recieved notification from the Board a couple days ago (August 15) that my license had been suspended, I am fined $250 which must be paid within 6 months, and I had to reapply for my license along with the $75 fee for that. I checked online today and my license has been reinstated but I was wondering if this has ever happened to anyone else. What are the consequences in your state of missing a single check-in??

That is exactly what it looks like to me...virtually anything requiring a license. During the time I did not have a nursing license, I looked into many different potential career paths (including massage therapy). All of the program applications that I recieved asked if you have ever had a professional license monitored or faced disiplinary action by any facility, board, or group (or something to that effect). I guess this may not mean that you absolutely could not be admitted into an educational program but it certainly suggests it.

I entered into IPN in 2006, couldn't find a job, got frustrated and dropped out of the program. After a couple of years clean & sober, I decided to give it another try. It took almost a year but the board has finally allowed me to have a probationary license with a 3-year contract (I am in WV - 3 years is standard). This contract is more strict and has more requirements than my first one. I also now have disiplinary action on my license and they reported me to some sort of national registry. I am still unemployed but figure something has to give eventually. I honestly wish I had not entered into IPN to start with. I wasn't ready to return to nursing at the time and don't regret withdrawing. All states are different and, frankly, the BON has the final say on these things. It's scary to think that your future can depend on a board members mood on a particular day. This is just my experience - others may have different. I will tell you that if you leave nursing and try to go into any other field that requires a license, you won't be able to. I looked into everything I could think of - with a license in poor standing you can't even be a licensed massage therapist. Until you "make things right" with your nursing license, it is highly unlikely that you will work in the medical field in any way.