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Specializes in Pediatric.

A good friend of mine and I were having a talk the other day- she's a nurse, too. She's gotten two DUI's and her employer never found out and she didn't have a problem renewing her license. Anyways, she saw a doctor recently for anxiety/depression. She's been off/on antidepressants her whole life, but for some reason she thinks her doctor's visit is going to "pop up" in some database and prevent her from being able to renew her license. I told her she's crazy (no pun intended) but has anyone heard of that actually happening? She was just treated for depression and anxiety, not psychosis or anything "extreme."

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She has 2 DUI's? She will get busted sooner or later. She could end up loosing her license all together. It is her job to report arrest and DUI's to her state. I know in Florida they are slowly getting to it but they are doing back ground checks. Also when you renew (at least with mine) I was asked if I had been arrested on any felonies, had any DUI's or any type of Drug issues. If you answer no to these questions and you know straight up you are lying, say bye bye to your license.

If your friend has 2 DUI's it sounds as if she has a problem and if you are a friend you will help her get help for her problem.

Wishing ya'll the best of luck.

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Specializes in LTC, Management, MDS Nurse, Rehab.
She has 2 DUI's? She will get busted sooner or later. She could end up loosing her license all together. It is her job to report arrest and DUI's to her state. I know in Florida they are slowly getting to it but they are doing back ground checks. Also when you renew (at least with mine) I was asked if I had been arrested on any felonies, had any DUI's or any type of Drug issues. If you answer no to these questions and you know straight up you are lying, say bye bye to your license.

If your friend has 2 DUI's it sounds as if she has a problem and if you are a friend you will help her get help for her problem.

Wishing ya'll the best of luck.

I totally agree...if u lie sooner or later it'll catch up with you.

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Specializes in Pediatric.

Thanks for the replies. She actually wasn't worried about those because she's renewed her license three times since then with no problem. It's the doctor's visit she's concerned about. I've urged her to seek help but she won't even stop "recreational drinking." She's a worry to me!

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Specializes in LTC, Management, MDS Nurse, Rehab.
Thanks for the replies. She actually wasn't worried about those because she's renewed her license three times since then with no problem. It's the doctor's visit she's concerned about. I've urged her to seek help but she won't even stop "recreational drinking." She's a worry to me! Sent from my iPhone using allnurses.com

Unless the BON is requesting the info about the visit from her I don't believe it can be shared due to Hippa. Doctors don't just randomly share that type of info.

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Specializes in Pediatric.

Unless the BON is requesting the info about the visit from her I don't believe it can be shared due to Hippa. Doctors don't just randomly share that type of info.

Thanks. That's what I said, but she insists a nurse can lose their license for seeking treatment for depression and anxiety. I've never heard of that happening....

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Specializes in Medsurg/ICU, Mental Health, Home Health.

I've been treating for both of those things since I was 18. I even required psych hospitalization and needed medical leave. Never had an issue with my job or the BON. And I take an antidepressant daily as well as Klonopin PRN. Employee health knows about both because I had to be cleared by them officially when I went to return to work after my psych hospitalization.

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perhaps this is her excuse to keep drinking? also, the issue of depression/anxiety will vary state to state.

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Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.

Alcohol dependency often has its roots in mental illness, and mental illness is made worse by substance abuse of any kind. Your nurse friend needs to wake up to the fact that she has an ETOH problem, and that she needs to take her anxiety and depression treatment as seriously as she would cancer or diabetes.

By the way, anxiety, depression, alcoholism and other mental illnesses do not make one "crazy", nor are they any less serious just because there doesn't happen to be any psychosis involved. If you want to help your friend, please don't label her that way, it will only discourage her from seeking further help.

As for her worries that the BON will flag her for seeing a doctor about her psychiatric issues, I'd think she should be more concerned about the fact that she has evidently never notified the board about her arrests/convictions. Not that her worries are completely unfounded: many states require that licensees notify the board of any physical or mental health conditions that may impair one's ability to practice nursing safely. But if she's never been hospitalized for mental illness, the only way the BON will find out is if she self-reports.

If you possibly can, try to convince her to attend an AA meeting, or at the very least encourage her to talk to her doctor about her drinking. Anyone who drinks and drives, especially in this day and age when the consequences for doing it are so severe, is either stupid or out of control.....in your friend's case, I'm assuming that it's the latter, and at least there's hope for that (there is no cure for stupid).

Best of luck to you and your friend.......you are going to need it.

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Specializes in Addictions/Mental Health, Telemetry.

I know a nurse who was involuntarily admitted for depression and alcohol dependence following a car accident that did not result in a DUI. This nurse did not self-report, the BON never found out, and they renewed their license without issue. This nurse also, incidentally is in recovery with 3 years of sobriety. Sometimes one can get a wake up call without involving their nursing license.

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Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.

This is very true. It's when a nurse commits a crime that it absolutely must be reported to the BON, and DUI is most certainly a crime.

FWIW, I've never reported my own mental health issues to the BON either. Whenever I'm acutely ill and can't think straight I call in sick, or my husband does it for me. I actually took myself off the floor a few months ago because even when I'm well, I'm easily distracted and easily frustrated by the excessive stimuli (phones, call lights, people asking questions, families etc.). In my limited role as an admissions/QA nurse, I function very well so my condition doesn't affect my practice; but if it were ever to do so, I'd hang up my stethoscope in a heartbeat.

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