RN renewal and intervention

[worriednurse91]

Hello all,

I am new to this and looking for advice. I am an active RN practicing in Ohio. I have to renew my license in about a month, but I have a problem. I got into trouble last year in January, I was in a vehicle with others that had drugs on their person, and I was charged with a 5th degree felony. I received my license in September but I was not charged until October. I chose to do Intervention in Lieu of Conviction so that I would be able to have my charge expunged. I am attending classes and have complied well with everything. My question is, will I have an issue with renewing my license? I understand I may be put on restriction, but I work in a facility where narcotics are locked and counted. I'm worried that they will not allow me to renew. Does anyone have any advice or have been through something similar? I appreciate any feedback, thank you!

[OhioRN1234]

I am in Ohio, have been waiting for my "sentencing" since 2014. SELF REPORT! They will find out and it will be worse for you if you wait. I had heard they got rid of their alternative program (where you serve your sentence and can have a clean license at the end). Consult with a lawyer who deals with the board. I have one in columbus, she seems good but who knows since I have been waiting for over three years. This process is a freaking nightmare but you are in a good position to self report. Like I said, they will find out one way or another and it WILL be worse for you if you lie. These folks are NOT here for you they are here to protect the public and that is done by running you through the coals. There is hope and i seriously doubt you will lose your license but there is a strong chance you will have a mark. I will not matter that your facility locks up narcs. If you read about the programs in different states you will have an idea of what is coming.

I am so sorry this happened to you, people on this site are there for you and you have the ability to make this better for yourself. Please do so. Good luck. Reach out to folks on this site and think very carefully about what you want to do.

[mississippiRN71]

Hope this helps. I was able to renew my license this past December even though I marked on the renewal form that I had been to rehab for alcohol/opiate addiction back in November 2015. I self reported to the Mississippi BON in Feb 2016 and my case hasn't come up yet. They did renew my license thank God. As of now I have an active license with no restrictions , but when my case turns up I know there will be some sort of discipline on it , time will tell. I'm working in dialysis and we don't deal with narcs so I'm praying I can keep my job with monitoring. The board takes forever.

You are definately in the right group, a lot of support here!

Good luck , keep us posted :-)

[gnurse2089]

I can tell you how it goes in California. I got a DUI in November of 2013. My license was up for renewal in December. Being that I had not been convicted yet, I answered no the the question on the renewal application of whether I had ever been convicted of a crime. Didn't matter, they run a background check every time you renew your license so any arrests will show up.

I got a letter offering me Diversion, which I declined because it's a 5 year program and I would've had to stop working, which wasn't feasible for me, and also the DUI was a dumb mistake, I've never had a problem with alcohol prior to or after that. Fast forward 4 years later and I'm now on nursing probation, however, there were two renewals within that time period and the Board renewed my license within a matter of days without any issues. So no, it shouldn't interfere with your renewal but you will be reported to your states enforcement department if you have an arrest on record.