Work? is it available

ehooper80 · May 14, 2010

Yes, nurses in recovery can and do get jobs. I am an RN in recovery and I work full-time at an acute psychiatric hospital. This was the first RN position I applied for after having the narcotic restriction lifted by my nurses' monitoring program, so I was a bit nervous because I really wanted the job.

I lived in a small town (35,000? pop) so empooyment opportunities are limited here, even for nurses. I applied and interviewed for 3 RN positions while I had the narcotic restriction, and was not hired all 3 times because the employers could/would not pay an RN salary that needed an LPN/Medication Aid for med pass. I was advised by my nurses' monitoring program to seek employment at dialysis clinics (because they don't administer narcotics), but those positions are extremely limited in my area. Then there are other RN positions that don't require passing medications at all, such as chart auditing, utilization review, etc. In my exp, you usually need several years of experience to get these jobs.

When I entered the monitoring program, I was given a narcotic restriction and my employer let me go (LTC facility). However, I've never asked any others nurses, so I don't know if this is a common practice. I actually worked as a phlebotomist for 6 months while I was trying to find an RN position. It's not easy, but nothing worth your time ever is. The most important thing is to realize how important your sobriety is.

Also, you would be amazed to find out how many nurses are in recovery. Of course it's confidential, so its not common staff discussion, but of the 4 employers I've had (2 hospitals, 2 LTC), there have been at least two nurses at each in recovery. Have you attended any nurses/health care professionals support group yet? If not, you should contact your monitoring program to get information on when/where they are held. The attendees of my NSG have been an invaluable resource, professionally in how to navigate the nursing world in a recovery plan and personally, to help rebuild my self esteem and confidence as a nurse.

I wish you all the best of luck and DON'T GIVE UP! Recovery is a process and you have to take it one day at a time.

LilRedRN1973 · May 15, 2010

I work at an outpatient psychiatric medication clinic. The name is kind of deceiving as we really don't give out medications; we only do haldol, prolixin, and risperdal consta injections. The clients come in and we do a 15-20 minute screening with them, then they meet with the doctor, who gives them prescriptions and they take those over to the pharmacy. We don't prescribe pain medication but do prescribe benzos. It's a state job so I have amazing benefits (although my insurance premiums did just double from $44 to $88 for me and the kids) and my schedule is great....I work Monday through Friday, 7am to 4pm with an hour for lunch. We have 13 paid holidays and I don't ever have to fight to get Christmas, Thanksgiving, etc. off. I love being able to sit down with the clients one on one and talk with them, do treatment plans, etc. I am also blessed in that I work with alcoholics and addicts on a daily basis as most of our population are dual diagnosis (about 65%). It helps me in my sobriety.

I had absolutely no psychiatric nursing experience when going on this interview and in fact, was doing dialysis...another common job for nurses in recovery and on restriction. I could not keep doing the dialysis. One of the staff was having major meltdowns and I was being put at risk of violating my contract, not to mention the 14 hour days (ugh). And everyday was like Groundhog day, the movie. Nothing ever really changed. I really didn't enjoy the kidney stuff in nursing school and didn't like it any better when doing dialysis....loved the patients, but that was about it. I had started working at the dialysis place as a tech prior to getting my license back and about 3 months after my license was reinstated, I noticed some openings with the state. My husband has been with the state since 2001 and is really happy working for them. I decided what the heck and put in some applications, thinking I could work in the prison (they hire nurses on contract and our Board approves those positions). Well, they didn't call but several other places did and they all happened to be from Northern Nevada Adult Mental Health, which is the big state run facility here.

When I interviewed for the medication clinic, the supervisor asked right off the bat why I went from the ICU to dialysis. I was upfront and said that I had lost my nursing license due to my addiction, entered into rehab, and was a year sober. I went on to tell him that although I had no psychiatric experience, I could empthaize with the clientele at the clinic because I understood the compulsions and obsessions they had. I had several interviews with him and 2 other experienced nurses at the clinic and on my 1 year sobriety birthday, I received a phone call, letting me know I had gotten the job over another, more experienced psych RN! I was told later that it was my addiction that got me the job....how's that for my Higher Power working?!

I've been there almost a year (July) and love going to work each and every single day. I did take almost a $10/hr cut in pay as well as an extended commute (the dialysis place was about 5 minutes from my home; my current job is about 35 minutes away), but I wake up and look forward to my day at the clinic, which is huge for me; couldn't say that about the dialysis place or my old job in the intensive care unit! So yes, there are jobs out there and some of them are better than the ones you might have had BEFORE surrendering the license :rolleyes:

RN LAS VEGAS · Jan 1, 2012

hello life_is_good_1973,

i have looked into the nevada website and found the psych nurse ii opening. however, i am a fairly new nurse. i worked a few months in dialysis and now in a med/surg unit at valley hospital in which the training that was mentioned during an interview is not enough training that i require. i am very interested in psych nursing and wondering if there is anything you might be able to do in order for me to meet with a manager. i am a male and am bilingual english/spanish. i did try the application process which has a pre-screening which i filled out. the prescreening led to a block of the application as it did not meet the minimum requirements. i have a nevada rn license with no restrictions. if there is a better way to communicate i would be more than happy to do that as well. happy new year !!!