California RN first DUI

[virginiaryan]

I got a DUI(.11 then .08) in Jan. No accident. No injury.
My liscence expires in Dec and I will be reporting it. Court still ongoing and have not been convicted as of this writing.

Will I have to go to the diversion program for 3 years and not be able to work? ? I have no alcohol problem and have absolutely learned a hard and frightening lesson.

[cooley346]

get a lawyer and you will get out of it. It may not be cheap but at least you won't have to carry sr22 insurance. You may get pleaded down to a lesser offense.

[NurseDeeb]

What is sr22 insurance? I have been in the California diversion program for a couple of years now (not for DUI), and I'm having problems with coming up positive for ETG (a metabolite of alcohol). I've not had a drink in 13 months now.

BTW, I am working and only had to be off for 9 months, during which I received disability ($2400/month).

[cooley346]

sr22 insurance is extremely expensive and is required when you get a DUI. It's high risk insurance.

[hppygr8ful]

It really won't matter how your DUI case turns out if the board finds out that you have had a drunk driving arrest. It wasn't clear if you had one or two arrests from your post. They will look on it as are you safe to continue to practice nursing. They will see your arrests as evidence of poor judgement on your part ( ie drinking and driving) and if they feel that this makes you unsafe to practice they may refer you to the diversion program if you refuse they may put you into probation. If this happens wether you have a problem with alcohol or not you will be required to maintain a minimum of 24 months of physical sobriety and that means "Absolutely No Alcohol". Plus you will be required to have a psych eval, mandatory attendance of AA meetings way above and beyond what the court mandates. They can even require that you go into inpatient rehab (at your expense of course).For a person who truely doesn't have a problem this should be no sweat. For alcoholics like me it's tough. Though I have been sober almost a year now (SOB DATE 9/29/04) I still continue to struggle with the many ism's of addiction.

I do love my life today - After 30 years of heavy drinking - I really didn't have any life outside of working and booze - interestingly enough I was never impaired at work but ended up in diversion after a suicide attempt.

Anway please feel free to contact me here - I check in once a day usually.

Peace and God Bless

[victorialovio]

Hi I have been appealing the board for a year now and they just offered me a stipulation for a 3 year probation. This is due to a DUI that after 8,000 in a lawyer was dropped to a reckless driving which is a misdemeanor I am a new graduate as of this time last year and in reading through the stipulation it seems so discouraging with how much they are asking of me. I don't have a drinking problem and I feel this is an unfair punishment for my action. If you were on probation can you tell me how bad it was and is it hard to get employed with being on probation. I'm considering moving to another state and hopefully this wont be an issue. I could really use some advise. Thanks

[1sadnurse]

I am looking for someone who can give me some advice on a DUI I received while working as a traveling RN in CA. I received the DUI 3 1/2 years ago. Just yesterday I got something in the mail from the CA state board of nursing. From what I can understand of the leagal mumbo jumbo it is a acuisition against me for the DUI. I live and work in MO. What do I do? What can the state do? Do I need a lawyer?
I do not have a drinking problem, just poor judgement. I haven't drank since the incident. Decided it wasn't worth it. PLEASE HELP!!!!!

[cali510]

Originally Posted by 1sadnurse

I am looking for someone who can give me some advice on a DUI I received while working as a traveling RN in CA. I received the DUI 3 1/2 years ago. Just yesterday I got something in the mail from the CA state board of nursing. From what I can understand of the leagal mumbo jumbo it is a acuisition against me for the DUI. I live and work in MO. What do I do? What can the state do? Do I need a lawyer?
I do not have a drinking problem, just poor judgement. I haven't drank since the incident. Decided it wasn't worth it. PLEASE HELP!!!!!

I would advise you to seek legal advice before dealing with this. Adverse actions against your CA license could be reported to the Board in MO and jeopardize your MO license. You do not want to stumble your way through this without the help of a good attorney. You might want to seek a nurse attorney through The American Association of Nurse Attorneys referral service. Good luck. And congratulations on dealing with the situation.