Tara Mackay is a nurse attorney in Texas and I enjoyed reading her post on Chemical Dependency and Impairment and Licensure Defense. http://nurseattorney.blogspot.com/2008/08/impairment-or-substance-abuse-attorney.
Its unfortunate how nurses with a chemical dependency are regarded by some. Chemical dependency and addiction is a disease however it can spell R-U-I-N for some nurses, depending on the state of licensure. Each State Nursing Board handles chemical dependency and impairment issues differently and you should consult with a licensure defense attorney in your state about your options.
I actually had a nurse client who applied for a state nursing board alternative program in State A only to have her application for licensure denied for immediate consideration. She assumed because she was already admitted into the alternative programs in State B and C that the process and the procedure for admission to a similiar program in State A was the same.
I post alot on chemical dependency on this blog because chemical dependency or impairment depending on the drug of choice may have licensure, criminal, employment, regulatory, and long-term career implications for nurses.
Dear Jessie,
Thank you for your comment and I wish you the best with your licensure matters.
Posted by: latonia | September 04, 2008 at 07:55 PM
I am so blessed to have found your site!!! There are way tooo few non alcoholic/substance abusers who don't see our good sides.
Bless you and thank you for your compassion and kind words of encouragement.
Personally, I wouldn't believe my coworkers and friends and didn't get a lawyer in Ca. Now that I moved to Tx and have been here 3+ years, I'm in knee deep from Ca. BRN, and Tx is getting into the act. I have an attorney now and we're meeting tomorrow. She has gotten me to Focus on facts and not keep reading other things into my case and I get very anxious and distracted. Anyhow, thanks again. Sincerely, J. Walker
Posted by: jessie w. | September 04, 2008 at 05:26 PM