Senior Nursing Student: DUI

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Hello, my name is Gabriel, I am a senior nursing student. I recently got a DUI (about four weeks ago, right before school started). I have already contacted the Board of Nursing and printed out and filled the declaratory order. I am really worried because I am about to graduate in May 2014. I have never been arrested or have I had any other tickets. I learned a lesson and trust me it will NOT happen again. What wanted to know is if this will impede me from becoming a nurse or taking the N-clex? Please any advice would help!!!

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

The people best suited to advise you would, of course, be your state Board of Nursing. We cannot advise you, because each individual case and each state is different. You should be aware, however, that most BONs frown upon DUI and may require you to participate in a monitoring program and/or impose stipulations that may limit your employment options.

Next time you drink, for Heaven's sake don't drive. It's not worth it---not only will it impact you professionally, but as I'm sure you know, you could easily have injured or killed innocent people. No excuses, no "I've never been arrested or got tickets before" would have sufficed had you done so. Take it seriously, own it, and then never, NEVER do it again. Good luck.

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It can impede you from taking the NCLEX and becoming a nurse- the fact that it is so recent will work against you. They may deny your application for licensure, they may grant you a license with a consent agreement. If they deny then you can appeal it, or usually apply again after a year. Regardless, you need to hire a lawyer soon to help you through the process and to tell you what you need to do to increase your chances of being licensed.

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Specializes in Neuro/EMU, Pediatrics, Med Surg.

The BON has to approve you taking your NCLEX. Man, its a process!! I had a DUI in 2006, sent in my declaratory order/paperwork in Feb and still to this day am waiting to hear back from the BON!

Your graduating soon so I hope your approval doesn't take as long as mine is. Good luck!!

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Specializes in Critical Care.
The BON has to approve you taking your NCLEX. Man, its a process!! I had a DUI in 2006, sent in my declaratory order/paperwork in Feb and still to this day am waiting to hear back from the BON!

Your graduating soon so I hope your approval doesn't take as long as mine is. Good luck!!

My school denies applicants for having a DUI under five years old because our clinical sites require it. I am really sorry this is happening to you. The BON in your state may approve your application to take the NCLEX without significant delay.

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I want to respond this this quote and also give hope to those who seriously made a huge one time mistake in their life and not like others who are getting away with it all the time. Also please be glad you did not hurt anyone or damage property. To cut the story short, I stupidly volunteered to drive everyone back to a house after sobering up at a restaurant for a couple hours. We had celebrated our end to our first semester of nursing school. Well guess what, it was not enough time to sober up. No good deed goes unpunished so watch out. I am not even a party person or frequent drinker. I was pulled over in front of the house I had just arrived at and performed the whole DUI assessment. I was asked to blow on the breathalyzer 3 times and the police officer said, "That's not good enough, try again." I blew a 0.089%...... 9 tenths of 1% above the limit. Taken to jail, lost my driver's license, paid lawyer fees $2500, court fees $1800, 2 court appearances, threatened to lose job, threatened to get kicked out of nursing school, constant harassment from nursing school director, DUI school $600, AA meetings, car insurance DOUBLED, taking the bus to school and clinical, hiding it from my family, and even lost a girlfriend (kicked me while I was down). Anyways, not trying to feel sorry for myself, because there was no time for that. For anyone who is in a similar situation, you NEED to think positive, and battle this dilemma one day at a time and one task a time. It WILL NOT resolve in one day, one month, or several months. You CANNOT do everything at once so pace yourself. I had mine early on, a year and a half before applying to the board of nursing. Hope this information can help.

What I did was continue to go to school, keep studying hard, do well in clinical rotations, and know that this mistake will not dictate who you are. Here is what I did:

GET A LAWYER, you have to try to get it reduced to a wet reckless, and reduce your fines and probation. GET A GOOD LAWYER WHO KNOWS THE COURT YOU'LL BE AT.

Comply with EVERYTHING the courts says, and keep ALL your documents. It will make getting off probation and getting expunged easier.

After a year has passed or almost a year, GET A LAWYER AGAIN and GET OFF PROBATION, and try to get your record EXPUNGED. You will get many lawyers who will say you cant or just wait, but it is not true. Some lawyer will know what he or she is doing. EXPUNGEMENT will reverse your guilty or no contest plea to NOT GUILTY. You have to clear your name as best as you could before you apply for your RN license because you have to disclose it anyways. A great thing about expungement is that you do not have to disclose your conviction when you're applying to hospitals. You can click no to convictions. It even says so on hospital applications.

GATHER ALL YOUR DOCUMENTS EARLY before applying to the BRN. DO NOT WAIT TO THE LAST MINUTE OR MONTH ACTUALLY. All that happened was that my application was sent to the enforcement board. They reviewed it and sent it back to regular processing. I was not denied taking the NCLEX or licensure. I even took the NCLEX before a lot of my peers due to applying early.

Here is a response to any BASHER who kicks you while you're down, I admit I made a mistake, a horrible mistake and WILL NOT do it ever again. BAD JUDGEMENT. But it is not who I am nor do I have a problem. It will not be carried on into my career. This incident has matured me, made me stronger, wiser, clever, and smarter than many of my peers who continue to be immature, weak minded, and actually do drink ALL THE TIME. You know what? After passing the NCLEX (first try and 2 hours), 70 hospital applications later, 2 months of applying, with no experience, and a NEW GRAD, I am hired at a very prestigious hospital medical center where I thought I had no chance. Maybe that was my destiny for all this to happen to me and I will take care of this opportunity I have for the rest of my life.

I wish I had read a post like mine early on to give me some hope that things may get better. I was severely depressed. So here I am writing my experience to share with those of you in a similar situation. Keep your head up, stay focused, and stay the course. You will make it if you choose to.

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Awesome testimony! Decreases my stress state a bit, I have hope with BON.... My DUI court date is Literally the day before grad/ pinning.... I was completely Nieve to DUI thinking if socialize with a cocktail it was ok long as Stop 2hrs 1half Non-wasted tho! & drink lots of h20. I was wrong, my tail light bub went out & I was pulled over & his only concern was have u been drinking

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