Venting about BON involvement in DUI

[Nursing NCO]

:banghead:I am writing this because I am irritated that in the nursing field if you receive a DUI during your off duty time it can (and usually will) seriously affect your career. I have a colleague who has been nursing for over 40 years, they have never put patients in danger, and have never been intoxicated on shift. Yet this person receives a DUI and the BON immediately treats this person as if they are the scum of the earth. This is only one example of several that I could share. Nursing seems to be the only job, outside of the military, where if you get a DUI in your off time it directly affects your career. With the changes in state DUI laws and the greater enforcement of those laws this is a serious issue. I feel that the members of the BON are out to crucify people for making human mistakes. I understand that we can't have intoxicated nurse's on the floor taking care of patients but if it doesn't involve patient care/safety the BON should keep their #$%#ed nose out of nurses' business. I am afraid to go out and have 1 beer/glass of wine because I'm worried that if I get stopped for some trivial traffic violation I will wind up losing my nursing license. Back to my colleague, the BON put restrictions on their license, required the monthly random UA's and when the lab failed to file their paperwork in time, REVOKED my colleague's license. With the nursing shortage, this practice seems to be one more case of the system shooting itsself in the foot. This is my opinion and I wanted to see how others felt on the subject. And please spare me the "Morals" speech because it has nothing to do with morals.

[LovebugLPN]

No matter how we view this topic and try to persuade people to come to our side on this it doesn't matter. The BON has made the decision and when you decided to become a nurse you knew the rules. If you didn't like all the restrictions and wanted to keep saying "it's not fair" like a bunch of 4 year olds you should have walked out of the classroom on day one. If you hate it now you can leave the profession and let some new grads who are looking for jobs have yours or you can suck it up and stop acting like frat boys.

[formerarch]

I'm firmly in the middle on this. DUI's are serious and should be treated more harshly to make them sink in. But taking away somebody's livelihood is another matter. Forcing everyone with a DUI to give up their careers and spend the rest of their lives working menial labor is Dickensian at best.

The vast majority of DUI's don't destroy anybody's life. Just like the vast majority of people who text or use their phones while driving. Each situation is different and should be treated as such, addressing the problem rather than simply dumping people into good/bad categories.

And it needs to be drilled into everybody's head that operating 4500 pounds of metal at high rates of speed is a responsibility, not a right.

[Tessaprn]

BON job is to ensure patient safety. With substance abuse (drugs or alcohol) BON is in their right to disclipline however they see fit. At one time nurses did not have any options except to lose their license. Now they promote rehab. You would actually be stunned to know how many people who are nurses are substance abusers and the number of nurses who enter rehab and relapse and return to rehab and relapse a second or third time. This I assume is why the probation period is 5 years or longer.

A nurse gets the oportunity to attend rehab when you have a DUI or drug abuse. It's better to turn yourself in rather than be turned in. Years ago people did not get a second chance.

[luvche]

I think the BON looks at it like this: If you are drinking enough where you thought it was a good idea to try to drive, then you aren't making clear decisions. If you aren't making good decisions in your personal life, how do they know that won't trickle into your professional life. The way they put it to me is, they absolutely have a duty to stop nurses who may end up being a danger to the public. (Again, if you make bad personal decisions, what stops you from making bad professional ones). All they care about is making sure they are keeping patients safe. If they feel a nurse can be unsafe, based on decisions they make, they have a right to pull license.

It may seem like an invasion of provacy. But let's say your family member gets injured or dead based on a mistake made by a nurse. Let's say it was either due to intoxication at work, or NOT being intoxicated...but a true accident. If you later found out this person has a DUI history, and was never investigated, I bet you would be saying "see?! There is a clue that nurse may not be safe, and no one did anything"

Or maybe you wouldn't say that. I am an alcoholic RN in recovery...and I would STILL be asking that if it happened to me. Even as an alcoholic....I can tell you I refused to drive after drinking. It coulda been one isolated incident...but the BON doesn't know that. It could be proof of how cloudy their drinking has made their judgement...even when they aren't drinking.

I know I only drank on weekends. But my fame of mind and thinking were being affected even throughout the week. My job suffered, thgouh i never went in drunk or hungover (I only worked weekdays). So really, they can't be sure it is an isolated "mistake"

Probably not what you wanted to hear. Sometimes I wish BON would but out of my recovery. But they have a duty to the public. They can't pick and choose which incidents are isolated and which indicate a problem and which indicate the start of a problem