volunteer your license= re-take boards

devin · Feb 16, 2004

:angryfire dOESN'T ANYONE OUT THERE FEEL ANGRY ABOUT THIS OR HAVE ANY EXPERIENCE WITH BEING SEGREGATED AGAINST BEING AN IMPAIRED NURSE AS OPPOSED TO AN IMPAIRED PHYSICIAN?? HERE I STAND READY TO GIVE UP MY LICENSE VOLUNTARILY AFTER A DUI. HAVING NEVER GONE TO WORK AFTER DRINKING MIND YOU. AM NOW ALCOHOL FREE, AM ATTENDING CLASSES FOR ALCOHOL AS WELL AS AA. THE ONLY DOOR OPEN FOR ME IS TO RE- TAKE MY EXAMS IF I WISH TO STILL BE A NURSE AT THE END OF IT ALL---POPPYCOCK!! HOW RASH. THERE MUST BE A BETTER AVENUE.

Why do nurses not volunteer to go into drug and alcohol rehab programs?? Because upon completion, their only choice is to re-take their board exams..how unfair....doctors don't have such stern rules why are we such expendables?

ejm99 · Feb 16, 2004

hmmm...

how do I feel about this...

well I agree...the "ole boy" network of doctors more often then not sheild their own from scrutiny and possible consequences of their actions...

but it doens't really matter.

Your not a doctor.

Nor more so than if you were a school bus driver and got a dui and lost your specialized license..therefore lost your job.

Bottom line is different professions have different consequences for different rule infractions...

so...while I don't know your situation, am Not a nurse yet, I know that I personally don't feel it's so horrible for you to be asked to retake the boards or surrender your license.

You passed them once...why woudln't you agian..unless you truly are not qualified to be a nurse.

That being said ....I also feel the need to explain that a friend of mine lost his father when a nurse coming off a morning (7am) shift ran her car off the road and straight thru his parents bedroom. She was found to be DUI...and this was less than 30 minutes from the time she clocked out... my reasonable assumption as was everyone else's involved was that she was drinking while on duty. She didn't just lose her license she went to jail....manslaughter.

A yr later my friend lost his mother when she commited suicide. It seems she had left the bedroom just moments before to go to the restroom and that is the only thing that saved her life. Survivors guilt is a horrible thing.

That began my friends long stint in foster homes....he had been an A+ honor student and quickly became one of the less desirable potheads and left high school the minute he could sign himself out.

So..I understand...you may not be a drinker and the ONE time you do you drove and got caught....but then again you could be an active alcholic who routinely risks injury and harm to others and YOURSELF and got caught. Not my call to make..but I think across the board rules saying surrender or re take are NOT a bad thing.

devin · Feb 17, 2004

Well, not a nurse yet...wait until you have 20 years past your boards and then rethink the question of re-taking the boards. By the time you have 20 years under your belt you have at least I have specialized my skills. The boards as I recall are quite generalized. I'm sure I would not pass a GED exam at present either, this does not make me an unfit high school grad but thanks for the input. I simply think that if one is ajudication withheld and not ajudicated guilty of a felony then license should remain untouched. Am I alone here in this thinking??:)

hmmm...
how do I feel about this...
well I agree...the "ole boy" network of doctors more often then not sheild their own from scrutiny and possible consequences of their actions...
but it doens't really matter.
Your not a doctor.
Nor more so than if you were a school bus driver and got a dui and lost your specialized license..therefore lost your job.
Bottom line is different professions have different consequences for different rule infractions...
so...while I don't know your situation, am Not a nurse yet, I know that I personally don't feel it's so horrible for you to be asked to retake the boards or surrender your license.
You passed them once...why woudln't you agian..unless you truly are not qualified to be a nurse.
That being said ....I also feel the need to explain that a friend of mine lost his father when a nurse coming off a morning (7am) shift ran her car off the road and straight thru his parents bedroom. She was found to be DUI...and this was less than 30 minutes from the time she clocked out... my reasonable assumption as was everyone else's involved was that she was drinking while on duty. She didn't just lose her license she went to jail....manslaughter.
A yr later my friend lost his mother when she commited suicide. It seems she had left the bedroom just moments before to go to the restroom and that is the only thing that saved her life. Survivors guilt is a horrible thing.
That began my friends long stint in foster homes....he had been an A+ honor student and quickly became one of the less desirable potheads and left high school the minute he could sign himself out.
So..I understand...you may not be a drinker and the ONE time you do you drove and got caught....but then again you could be an active alcholic who routinely risks injury and harm to others and YOURSELF and got caught. Not my call to make..but I think across the board rules saying surrender or re take are NOT a bad thing.

Gldngrl · Feb 17, 2004

The State Boards of Nursing are in place to PROTECT THE PUBLIC. The measures that your state has issued may seem draconian, but if you want to maintain your license, you'll obey their issuances and focus on your behaviours.

ejm99 · Feb 17, 2004

maybe yoru right...but if it were ME....I would do whatever necessary to keep my license. Especially since your being given a CHANCE....now it's up to you to decide whether you want to take it or not.

I personally find the lack of remorse in your post and the shirking of personal responsibility upsetting.

To be quite honest I feel your LUCKY that your being given the OPTION to retake the boards at all....

do all states do that?

and while I understand that you've been nursing for 20+ yrs...I also understand that in my eyes your also old enough to know better than do what you did. You got caught...so take some responsibility for your actions and deal w/ the consequences...no one else got behind the wheel...YOU did.

YOu can't really fuss if you CHOOSE to surrender yoru license when you had an alternative and didn't want to bother even TRYING to keep it.

edited...I reread your first thread...and I think I missed the point...it isn't about the fact you got the dui...it's about the fact that nurses can't complete drug/alcohol abuse programs and re-enter nursing w/out serious repricussions...?

Now if THIS is the case..I think it's one thing to forced to go thru a program IE: mandated by court because they got caught...or those that walk in willingly BEFORE something like that happens.

I say...if it's across the board you enter treatment and yoru penalized by being asked to surrender or retake..well YES I agree that would be wrong....however asking someone who got a DUI or was caught divirting meds...well that's something else.

Tweety, BSN, RN · Feb 17, 2004

I'm sorry you're going through this. Getting angry isn't going to help you, the sooner you find some peace with what is outside of your control the better. Concentrate on getting sober and keeping that license. Getting angry and minimizing ("having never gone to work.....") is getting you no where.

Here in Florida we're lucky, while we may have surrender our license we don't have to retake the board. They just have to jump through hoops to get it back.

I doubt after all these years I could pass the boards easily either. Good luck!

Dave ARNP · Feb 17, 2004

I have never understood the "punishment" for imparied physicians. In my state, if a physican is shown to have a drug/alcohol problem, they are referred into a program for impaired physicians. They're required to keep a "contracted" relationship with them until the board of the "program" feels they're OK. They also agree to submit for random drug screening at their expense (and trust me, it ain't cheap. One of the MD's in our area went bankrupt and lost her license trying to "comply"). Then... to top it off, they yank their DEA license for five years or probate their DEA license and make them keep a "log". :rollseyes:

I can understand the program requirements, and even random testing... but there needs to be a universal standard for treating addiction issues in healthcare professions. I've mentioned this to those in positions to change this and was told that punishment needs to be based on the level of responsibility the clinician has. So tell me, we hang a nurse (let's say a office nurse... not to downplay thier importance, but they do have a tiny bit less responsibility than a bedside nurse) out to dry and revoke everything they've worked their life for, but we let that Neurosurgeon by with his drinking for whatever reason. Make sense to anyone else? You'll never see anyone take down a small family med doc who does no hospital privilages and nothing invasive over the ICU Nurse who's managing a vented patient with more lines than the electric company (oh, and HAPPENS to be smoking a little crack).

My heart goes out to anyone who's having to deal with this issue.

Regulating agencies have really and truely LOST their mind. I'd like to smack the **** out Mr. Rush for the paranoia he's got started.

Dave, who's had the pleasure of dealing with the BOM himself this month.

Trauma Columnist · Feb 18, 2004

Sorry for your problems. I think each state is different. So...maybe try another state???

devin · Feb 19, 2004

Number one...no drugs are involved here. Number two, this is a first and only DUI. My main gripe is that one should be able to voluntarily be able to give up a license, go through AA or whatever is the appropriate program for that particular person, and get the license back upon completion. The state has checks in place with these programs, ie: urine screens and breathalizers along with classroom time a few times a week. I have volunteered for this . I have never been on the job intoxicated nor felt myself a threat to my patients. However the other choice is to have my license ripped from me involuntarily which I also refuse to let happen.

maybe yoru right...but if it were ME....I would do whatever necessary to keep my license. Especially since your being given a CHANCE....now it's up to you to decide whether you want to take it or not.
I personally find the lack of remorse in your post and the shirking of personal responsibility upsetting.
To be quite honest I feel your LUCKY that your being given the OPTION to retake the boards at all....
do all states do that?
and while I understand that you've been nursing for 20+ yrs...I also understand that in my eyes your also old enough to know better than do what you did. You got caught...so take some responsibility for your actions and deal w/ the consequences...no one else got behind the wheel...YOU did.
YOu can't really fuss if you CHOOSE to surrender yoru license when you had an alternative and didn't want to bother even TRYING to keep it.
edited...I reread your first thread...and I think I missed the point...it isn't about the fact you got the dui...it's about the fact that nurses can't complete drug/alcohol abuse programs and re-enter nursing w/out serious repricussions...?
Now if THIS is the case..I think it's one thing to forced to go thru a program IE: mandated by court because they got caught...or those that walk in willingly BEFORE something like that happens.
I say...if it's across the board you enter treatment and yoru penalized by being asked to surrender or retake..well YES I agree that would be wrong....however asking someone who got a DUI or was caught divirting meds...well that's something else.

heatherbless · Feb 19, 2004

Number one...no drugs are involved here. Number two, this is a first and only DUI. My main gripe is that one should be able to voluntarily be able to give up a license, go through AA or whatever is the appropriate program for that particular person, and get the license back upon completion. The state has checks in place with these programs, ie: urine screens and breathalizers along with classroom time a few times a week. I have volunteered for this . I have never been on the job intoxicated nor felt myself a threat to my patients. However the other choice is to have my license ripped from me involuntarily which I also refuse to let happen.

Alcohol can technically be considered a drug-all of your complaining is not going to change your situation with the license. If you don't like it, then go to another state. I also agree with some of the other posts-you were the one that broke the law and you seem to have no remorse. What's up with that-who cares if you have been a nurse for 20 years?? You are still accountable to the same standards as everyone else. hty/

Gldngrl · Feb 20, 2004

Devin-

The fact that you say you've never worked while intoxicated or "felt yourself to be a threat to your patients" are irrelevant. You are missing the larger picture that the BON is undoubtably focused upon, that is your ability to make reasonable decisions based on sound judgment. Your decision to drive and drive was intentional and it brought your judgment into question. You posted this question on this site, not to get others thoughts, but to garner support for what you perceive to be unfair treatment. When you initially did not receive any replies to your question, you used allcaps (shouting) to essentially demand responses. The fact that you voluntarily submitted to the BON's issuances may be a mitigating factor, but it does not negate your actions. Your defensiveness and diminishment of the issue is apparent in your replies to other posters and I wonder if the BON noted this behaviour as well when they issued their sanctions.