Jott

Saltwater Im so glad to hear your having success! Your post was my first smile of the day! Keep the good news coming!

I would imagine the liability of hiring an addicted nurse is tremendous -what if something happened to a patient and there was any sort of investigation. Wouldn't the lawyers love to get wind of the fact that an addict had some hand in the care of that patient?? Heads would roll!! So, yea I can see why we aren't getting hired. And Im sure these HR people have had some bad experiences with the addicted- either personally, with a family member or via our over dramatized media. Either way, I feel like we are seen as drug crazed fiends. And I can't blame them for running....even if it makes me mad. OK, enough whine with the grapes already?? What can we do to get a job...here are the suggestions I have been given- call you local AA/NA office and find a group for nurses or healthcare professionals. There are 2 groups in my area, neither of which was published in the standard booklet containing meeting times/locations. Network there. Seek out relationships with others in the healthcare field and get the word out that you are looking for a job. Get numbers of other nurses, pharmacists etc. and start talking. To everyone! If you haven't burnt the bridge with a former employer due to your use- contact them. Offer to work part time or for less pay. Just come out and beg ( just kidding!). My nursing monitor at the OBN said positions such as case manager, admission nurse, discharge nurse and wound nurse were also good. Another option is working in a non nursing position - such as a nursing assist. And letting them see the kind of work you do and hoping they will hire you once they see you ARENT a fiend. The other option is to go back to school or just find a rich boyfriend/husband( ha! Ha!). Wonder if you have to have an active nursing license to get a degree in healthcare management or nurse informatics? Does anyone know?

Unfortunately I am not employed but have had MANY similar experiences during interviews. Witnessing someone go from excited to horrified in less than a nano second is truly a shocking experience! Before I became so discouraged and depressed about the whole job thing, I used to joke that at least I had one thing going for me - I held the world's record for "shortest job interview". Now it's not so funny. I have been clean and sober 3 years and am also wondering how many more times I can stand being treated like a leper before I just go back to school and start fresh in another career. You might try any former employers or networking thru AA/NA contacts. I attend a weekly AA meeting especially for nurses and none of them are employed either. I wonder what happens to the nurses that do achieve success re-entering our profession during the Alternative Program - I am certain there are many out there.

Due to the length of reply, I have sent it via email! I welcome any questions/thoughts or feelings you may have in the future. Hang in there girl, ONE DAY AT A TIME!

I am currently in the alternative program w/ the ohio board of nursing - would like to discuss it - recovery - finding a job etc