brakke33

Update for those who are wondering if they can do it, I found a job at a same day surg unit last may. I was totally honest about everything and they just saw my résumé, including 6 months traveling time at Yale, my time at a level 1 trauma center, and my military hx. Over the last 6 months I have excelled and have had no problems. They wanted someone with exp who could start quickly and they had no prob with my needing a work site monitor! So far alls good, I had to relocate but I was hired! I have 1.5 years left on my monitoring and plan on looking for a job closer to home then since it should be easier to get hired on with a current work hx and no need for a work site monitor. Just wanted to post so that someone could find some good news about being a nurse living with schizophrenia!

My jaw hit the floor today when I was denied an appointment at a VA mental heath care facility because of my enrollment in the health professionals service program required by my BON in order to keep my R.N. license. HPSP is a agency that "monitors treatment progress, work quality, and medications, along with attendance at support groups". The supervisor at the VA facility stated that they wouldn't give me an appointment not because my benefits package doesn't include mental health care but because of my participation in HPSP. I hope the VA rep I contacted about this is a pittbull and tears this person a new one.

Thank you, it was a privilege to serve. My father is currently taking advantage of those voc/rehab services right now, he lost his job when the mine shut down, and if needed I plan to do the same.

Although I have not heard of board order I have tried to verify my license through nursys and the results come up that I am UNABLE TO PRACTICE SAFELY BY REASON OF PSYCHOLOGICAL IMPAIRMENT OR MENTAL DISORDER. I hope that my status will change once the final paperwork goes through but for now it shows that I am still "unsafe".

My illness is very well managed on minimal medication, I have zero s/s. The only requirement from my BON is that I voluntarily participate in a health professional monitoring program that asks my doc to periodically submit a report on how my treatment is going and if I am med compliant. Thank you for all your comments, they have been very helpful!:)

Would it be misleading to answer the question of "has your license ever been suspended" with yes my license was suspended due to a medical condition or if asked "why did you leave your last job" I answer it was due to an illness? I feel like coming out as a schizophrenic would invoke too much bias due to the stigma of mental illness. I want to be honest but not to the point of disclosing more information than is necessary.

Hello, I am writing this post because I have just had my R.N. license reinstated after a year and a half automatic suspension due to a civil commitment related to my diagnosis of schizophrenia. I was scheduled to deploy with my national guard unit to Iraq and was in the process of leaving my job at a level one trauma center in the metro area when I started to become confused and unfocused. I didn't know what was going on and didn't feel safe to practice so I started to call in sick. I was trying to get a L.O.A. while I was prepping to deploy but my employer was making it difficult and along with all the other stressors, and PTSD from a previous deployment, I was not coping well and wound up leaving both my job and the national guard without going on the deployment. My mental status continued to deteriorate and I was brought to the hospital by the police on a 51/50 hold. I wasn't charged with anything and I was not violent but I was very delusional. Today I am fully recovered and on a antipsycotic med my license is fully reinstated but my problem is now how do I explain this during a job interview? I have been out of nursing for a year and a half and I have a suspension on my record. Bottom line is how do I explain this to a prospective employer?

I am a new travel nurse and have had several recruiters "working for me". I recently took an offer provided through AMN and I feel that I got screwed over. I am licensed through MN and got an offer in California. I only have a license through MN and was told to "get a flight out to Cali as soon as possible" to do a live scan for fingerprints. I have a previous petty misdemeanor dui in MN back in '04 and as in compliance with the board of Cali nursing I reported it. I brought this concern up with AMN right from the start and was "reassured" that it was not a problem and they actually came back with certian hospitals that either don't take first time travelers or as with the VA (even though I have 12 years of service) that they don't accept anyone with a previous conviction. I aknowledge the fact that I have this stain on my record and I am always very open, honest, and forthwright with this information. The recruiter "assured me" that it should not be a problem. After reading through the Ca board of nursing's requirements on the reporting of any previous alcohol related conviction policy, I raised a concern about the amount of time that it would take me to get my licsence. After being put in contact with a quality assurance representative, they said that with the live scan it would still only take only 2-3 weeks to get my Ca license vs the 6-8 weeks if I just did the app through the mail. That was not the case. After I spent 1600 dollars on a flight and cab fare when I turned in my application at the board of Ca nursing, even with all my supporting documents about my old conviction, they still said that my application would have to go through a review board and that would take 4-8 weeks. Bottom line: if the facility is willing to extend the offer and the review board approves my license, I am obligated to wait 2 months before I start working instead of the 3 weeks. This in addition to the fact that I could have just spent 230 dollars, instead of flying out to Ca just to wind up with the same amount of time for licensure as if I just mailed it in.***!!! This was my main concern from the get go and they totally placated me into thinking that it was no problem whatsoever. I had an offer to start out in MN where I am licensed within one week, but only after I accepted the position in Ca. Now I feel stuck with a job that may or may not still be legally valid and that I have wasted 1600 dollars flying out to Ca when I could have just mailed my app in and gotten the same turn around time. Right now they are trying to find me a short term 6 week assignment in another state to fill in the gap but I still feel like a sucker! This is not a great first impression and I feel that I have learned alot about how this whole recruiter thing shakes out. ie bold faced lies, the same as army recruiters! You would have thought that I learned my lessons! Guess not