Are there any nursing jobs where you can smoke marijuana without getting reprimanded? In short, probably not. Obviously, over the last decade, more and more states have recognized or legalized either the use of medical marijuana or recreational marijuana as well. However, just because the state recognizes medical marijuana use and you have a medical marijuana card or recognizes recreational use, this doesn’t mean that you can’t be fired by your employer for a positive either pre-employment drug screen or even a for-cause drug screen while you’re working there for several reasons. First, the nature of providing patient care means that a nurse simply cannot be impaired in any way to provide safe patient care.

Nurses Who Smoke or Use Marijuana May be Fired

And due to the nature of marijuana staying in the system for a period, it would be very difficult for a nurse to provide evidence or convince any employer that a positive drug screen was due to using completely outside of working hours or had no carryover effect that involved impairment in any way. Additionally, almost every state is an at-will employment state, and what that means is the employer can terminate an employee for any reason, at any time, without notice. Now, there are some protections if you’re a nurse practitioner, perhaps a CNA, and you have an employment contract or independent contractor agreement.

But if you’re a CNA, LPN, RN, or anything equivalent to that, most of the time, you’re an at-will employee, and they can just fire you for any reason. So, even if you tested positive for marijuana, but you prove somehow that it was outside of the normal working hours, they still could just let you go anyway. The only thing an employer can’t do is fire you for discriminatory reasons or retaliation in some way. And in most states, your opportunity or legal right to smoke marijuana is not a protected right that you can’t be fired for. So, what are some things you can do if you want to continue to use marijuana but don’t want to get in trouble at work?

How to Continue Using Marijuana Without Getting Reprimanded

Well, first, for any pre-employment drug screen that you’re going to take, you must abstain from taking marijuana for a period of time. You know when you’re applying for a job, and you know that if it’s a healthcare facility, they’re going to give you a pre-employment drug screen. You must be clean for that. That’s the first and easiest thing to do. Now, if you want to continue to use marijuana while you’re working, the best way to avoid any drug screen is not to show any size of impairment while you’re working. So, specifically with marijuana, bloodshot eyes, slurred speech, and reacting in a slow manner are all huge red flags, obviously. And I’m not advocating for taking it while you’re working. If you’re going to use it, then you should do it outside of patient care hours and well before any time that you’re going to be providing any patient care.

However, if anyone suspects that you’re impaired, you are going to be given a for-cause drug screen if you’re working for a reputable organization. And if you test positive after a suspected impairment, there’s almost no scenario where you’ll keep your job. You’ll be terminated and reported to the Board of Nursing in whatever state you’re in. So, to answer the question, are there any nursing jobs where you can’t be reprimanded for using marijuana? Most likely not if there are suspected impairment while you’re working, or you test positive on a pre-employment drug screen. Hopefully, that answered the question.

Can You be a Nurse with a Misdemeanor Drug Charge?

Can you be a nurse with a misdemeanor drug charge? Obviously, this is not going to be state-specific. I’m just going to give you general tips and things to think about if you’re going to apply for your nursing license. I know that many people that read these blogs are also maybe thinking of going into nursing school and are thinking, alright, well, maybe I can get into nursing school, but I can’t get a license, and I just wasted a bunch of time and money. So, I’m going to talk more about applicants or maybe even people that are thinking of going to nursing school. This is not going to be directed towards currently licensed nurses.

Alright, so you have a past misdemeanor drug charge which could be a possession of a bunch of different drugs, potentially distribution. There are some misdemeanor distribution charges as well. If you’ve been convicted, you’ve either gone to trial and lost or most likely reached a plea with the prosecutor, and then you had to do community service, fines, maybe some drug counseling, treatment, whatever it is, the board cares about convictions for the most part and not just charges.

It doesn’t mean you’ve ultimately been found guilty if you’re just charged with a crime. Only when you’ve been convicted or reached a plea, or maybe went into a pretrial diversion program, that’s where most boards find that the nurse, in their minds, would be convicted. So, if you’ve had one misdemeanor possession of marijuana from 20 years ago, that will not keep you from getting your nursing license, let’s just say.

What Does the Nursing Board Usually Look For in Drug Charges?

When a board looks at the criminal pass of a nurse, they’re going to run two things. They’re going to ask in the application, and this changes from state to state, but usually, they’ll ask: do you have any felony convictions? And then two, potentially, do you have any misdemeanor charges involving substance abuse? It does vary from state to state. You need to look at the specific language in the application of the state that you’re looking to apply to and then just see what you have to disclose. And then, the board is also going to write a criminal background check. Then anything that pops up in that criminal background check will likely reach out to you and ask you to give a summary of what happened and maybe even potentially provide them with the police records or court documents, so keep that in mind. 

Now, in a board’s mind, what they care about is that they’re going to license safe nurses that don’t have drug problems. And the board’s stated mission is to protect the public. They’re not there to protect the nurse, so they will see how many different misdemeanor drug charges or convictions they have. If you’ve had 15 in the last three years, that is a big problem, and you will probably not get your license.

If you had, as I said before, maybe one from 20 years ago, almost no chance you wouldn’t get your license. It’s a sliding scale. You need to consider how much time had elapsed from when you had your last conviction until when you applied and then how many you have. You can also think that if you did have a drug problem at the time, what have you done to fix the problem?

If a nurse was addicted to methamphetamine doesn’t mean you won’t get your license, but the board certainly wants to know, alright, if you did have addiction issues, what did you do to solve that problem? Did you go to AA or NA, or did you go to counseling? Did you seek treatment? Maybe you went into inpatient rehab? Or maybe you went into an intensive outpatient treatment program in IOP? Maybe you’ve made some lifestyle changes. Or have a different friend group. Maybe you got away from an abusive spouse. Something like that. There must be a change if there’s just a big cluster of drug problems at a time. There must be some rehabilitation change for the board to feel comfortable with issuing a license.

When Charges Are Frequent and More Than Just a Misdemeanor

Let’s just say it’s a recent number of drug charges, and they think this nurse hasn’t done what they need to do. It’s certainly possible they could issue the license but also put the nurse on simultaneous probation for drug issues. In most states would include random drug testing, supervision at work, maybe some kind of continuing education, a nurse recovery group, counseling, rehab, whatever. I mean, there’s a variety of things they could do. But even if you’ve had a bunch of recent things, but you’re willing to do what it takes to get your license, the board can, as I said before, issue the license but put you on probation. It could be anywhere from 12 to 36 months, sometimes more. And then, if you were to get through that period, your license would no longer be encumbered. 

Now, one bad thing about being placed on probation is if an alternative to a discipline program is not available for you. In an alternative discipline program, in most states, there’s a confidential monitoring program where you can do all the things I just listed, but it wouldn’t be public. And it wouldn’t be considered formal discipline. If the board only offers you formal discipline, that’s going to stay in your record, at least in most states, forever. So, you need to think about, alright, even if I do get a license, if I have this blemish on it forever, is that going to dampen the chances of me possibly getting the job I want to get? I would say no, but it is more difficult to find a job if you have a disciplinary history.

Before Attending a Nursing School, Get an Attorney to Review Your Drug Charges or Drug Conviction

So, in summary, if you just have one or two misdemeanor drug convictions, you’re probably fine. The closer to the date that you apply, the more scrutiny you’re going to get from the board. But overall, every situation is a little bit different. What I would suggest, I’m in Arizona, so I only help nurses with the Arizona board.

Before you even apply to a nursing school, it might make sense to reach out to somebody in the state that you’re thinking of applying to, someone who has experience with nursing board issues, and just say, hey, in the past, have you had a similar scenario? And then what is the likelihood of me getting a license once I apply? No one is going to be able to give you a 100% accurate guess, but if someone’s been doing the nursing board for a long time, they can usually give you a decently accurate, I guess, estimation of whether they think you would get licensed or not. And then maybe if there was disciplinary action attached to that or not.

Can you be a nurse with a misdemeanor drug charge? Obviously, this is not going to be state-specific. I’m just going to give you general tips and things to think about if you’re going to apply for your nursing license. I know that many people that read these blogs are also maybe thinking of going into nursing school and are thinking, alright, well, maybe I can get into nursing school, but I can’t get a license, and I just wasted a bunch of time and money. So, I’m going to talk more about applicants or maybe even people that are thinking of going to nursing school. This is not going to be directed towards currently licensed nurses.

Alright, so you have a past misdemeanor drug charge which could be a possession of a bunch of different drugs, potentially distribution. There are some misdemeanor distribution charges as well. If you’ve been convicted, you’ve either gone to trial and lost or most likely reached a plea with the prosecutor, and then you had to do community service, fines, maybe some drug counseling, treatment, whatever it is, the board cares about convictions for the most part and not just charges.

It doesn’t mean you’ve ultimately been found guilty if you’re just charged with a crime. Only when you’ve been convicted or reached a plea, or maybe went into a pretrial diversion program, that’s where most boards find that the nurse, in their minds, would be convicted. So, if you’ve had one misdemeanor possession of marijuana from 20 years ago, that will not keep you from getting your nursing license, let’s just say.

What Does the Nursing Board Usually Look For in Drug Charges?

When a board looks at the criminal pass of a nurse, they’re going to run two things. They’re going to ask in the application, and this changes from state to state, but usually, they’ll ask: do you have any felony convictions? And then two, potentially, do you have any misdemeanor charges involving substance abuse? It does vary from state to state. You need to look at the specific language in the application of the state that you’re looking to apply to and then just see what you have to disclose. And then, the board is also going to write a criminal background check. Then anything that pops up in that criminal background check will likely reach out to you and ask you to give a summary of what happened and maybe even potentially provide them with the police records or court documents, so keep that in mind. 

Now, in a board’s mind, what they care about is that they’re going to license safe nurses that don’t have drug problems. And the board’s stated mission is to protect the public. They’re not there to protect the nurse, so they will see how many different misdemeanor drug charges or convictions they have. If you’ve had 15 in the last three years, that is a big problem, and you will probably not get your license.

If you had, as I said before, maybe one from 20 years ago, almost no chance you wouldn’t get your license. It’s a sliding scale. You need to consider how much time had elapsed from when you had your last conviction until when you applied and then how many you have. You can also think that if you did have a drug problem at the time, what have you done to fix the problem?

If a nurse was addicted to methamphetamine doesn’t mean you won’t get your license, but the board certainly wants to know, alright, if you did have addiction issues, what did you do to solve that problem? Did you go to AA or NA, or did you go to counseling? Did you seek treatment? Maybe you went into inpatient rehab? Or maybe you went into an intensive outpatient treatment program in IOP? Maybe you’ve made some lifestyle changes. Or have a different friend group. Maybe you got away from an abusive spouse. Something like that. There must be a change if there’s just a big cluster of drug problems at a time. There must be some rehabilitation change for the board to feel comfortable with issuing a license.

When Charges Are Frequent and More Than Just a Misdemeanor

Let’s just say it’s a recent number of drug charges, and they think this nurse hasn’t done what they need to do. It’s certainly possible they could issue the license but also put the nurse on simultaneous probation for drug issues. In most states would include random drug testing, supervision at work, maybe some kind of continuing education, a nurse recovery group, counseling, rehab, whatever. I mean, there’s a variety of things they could do. But even if you’ve had a bunch of recent things, but you’re willing to do what it takes to get your license, the board can, as I said before, issue the license but put you on probation. It could be anywhere from 12 to 36 months, sometimes more. And then, if you were to get through that period, your license would no longer be encumbered. 

Now, one bad thing about being placed on probation is if an alternative to a discipline program is not available for you. In an alternative discipline program, in most states, there’s a confidential monitoring program where you can do all the things I just listed, but it wouldn’t be public. And it wouldn’t be considered formal discipline. If the board only offers you formal discipline, that’s going to stay in your record, at least in most states, forever. So, you need to think about, alright, even if I do get a license, if I have this blemish on it forever, is that going to dampen the chances of me possibly getting the job I want to get? I would say no, but it is more difficult to find a job if you have a disciplinary history.

Before Attending a Nursing School, Get an Attorney to Review Your Drug Charges or Drug Conviction

So, in summary, if you just have one or two misdemeanor drug convictions, you’re probably fine. The closer to the date that you apply, the more scrutiny you’re going to get from the board. But overall, every situation is a little bit different. What I would suggest, I’m in Arizona, so I only help nurses with the Arizona board.

Before you even apply to a nursing school, it might make sense to reach out to somebody in the state that you’re thinking of applying to, someone who has experience with nursing board issues, and just say, hey, in the past, have you had a similar scenario? And then what is the likelihood of me getting a license once I apply? No one is going to be able to give you a 100% accurate guess, but if someone’s been doing the nursing board for a long time, they can usually give you a decently accurate, I guess, estimation of whether they think you would get licensed or not. And then maybe if there was disciplinary action attached to that or not.

Other Blogs Of Interest

• What Would a Nurse be Subject to if Recently Convicted of a Felony?
• Can you be a Nurse in Indiana with a Felony?
• Nursing Law: Can you be a Nurse with a Misdemeanor Assault Charge?

Can you be a Nurse with a DUI?

First, let’s just talk about what it means to have a DUI. You could’ve been charged with the DUI but never convicted. That’s not going to prevent you from becoming a nurse. I’m just talking about convictions here, meaning you either pled guilty through a plea agreement, went to trial, lost, and were found guilty. That’s what I’m talking about. Or, maybe you reached a pretrial diversion program, which most boards consider a guilty outcome. Now, first, this is just general information. Every state has its own specific rules as far as kind of criminal background.

Thinking of Enrolling or Just Enrolled in a Nursing School?

I’m just going to give you general information, and things to think about. Maybe you’re thinking about entering nursing school or maybe you’re just finishing up nursing school and now you’re going to have to apply to boards and you’re like, oh no. I do have the stuff in my background. I never thought about it. Can I get a license? So, totally delay any major fear. 99 times out of 100, yes, if you have a DUI in your past, you’ll still be able to get your nursing license. Now, it may be under some conditions, but it’s very rare unless it’s a felony DUI that would prevent you from getting a nursing license, like completely. Let’s just kind of break down what a board will look at if you have a past DUI.

Usually, when you apply, and this is state-specific, it’ll normally say, have you had any convictions regarding substance abuse or alcohol or something like that? A DUI obviously is yes, considered one of those. And it’s going to say, alright, well, tell us when it happened, where it happened, give us a little statement about what happened. And then they may even want the nurse to provide them with a criminal record.

There are two parts to any record of the police documents and then the court documents. And they’re separate. They’re normally not in the same place. You’ll have to request them from both. Once you have all of that, you’ve submitted a statement, then depending upon the length of time that you elapsed since you had the DUI, what your BAC was. Do you have three DUIs versus one? Do you have any other kind of substance abuse-related, some drug charges, possession sale, a lot of disorderly conduct, or domestic violence-related incidents involving alcohol?

Is it One DUI or an Underlying Substance Abuse?

If there are any kind of major red flags beyond just I’ve had one regular DUI in my past, what a board will normally do is they’re going to investigate. The investigation will be kind of a review of all of the criminal and court documents. And then they’ll usually ask to speak to the nurse.

What happened here? What was going on in your life at the time? Did you have to do any kind of rehabilitation? Did you go into rehab, maybe an IOP, have you been doing AA? What are your current drinking habits? Those are the questions they’re going to ask to determine whether you have a problem or not? I mean, the main, well, not the main, the stated purpose of every board of nursing is to protect the public, not to protect the nurse. They’re not there for you. They’re there to protect the public.

Suppose they’re going to license somebody with a criminal background involving a DUI. In that case, they want to ensure that you don’t continue to have substance abuse-related problems that may bleed into the clinical side of providing patient care. Or, if you had problems in the past, you must fix them somehow. As I said before, doing rehab or an IOP or counseling, AA, all those things. Just because you’ve had one DUI in your past doesn’t mean you need to do all those things. Well, you probably don’t need to go to rehab or AA or do anything if you just had one DUI 10 years ago and made a stupid decision. Now, if you’ve had three DUIs and you had a very high, like over 0.2 BAC, at least in Arizona, it’s called a super extreme DUI.

Yes, you probably do need to do those things to show the board that you have dealt with the issues and that you no longer have those problems. They’re going to ask about all your current drinking habits, so how much do you drink now? When I talk to a nurse and say, okay, you’ve had one DUI, fine. It’s a great scheme of things. That’s not a big deal, but what are your current drinking habits? And they say I drink a six-pack every night before bed. Okay, but most boards will describe that as someone with a substance abuse problem.

Think of them as the parish organization; anything above regular social drinking will shoot up red flags for them. Now, suppose they think you may have an issue. In that case, some boards will then have a nurse get a substance abuse evaluation by a psychologist, maybe a substance abuse counselor, to get an opinion on whether they have any substance abuse problems. And whether that professional believes they need a monitoring program. 

Worst Case Scenario For Nurses Who’ve Had a DUI

That’s usually, the worst-case scenario for a nurse with DUI in their background is that the board will essentially force them to go on probation for a period. And they’ll grant the license simultaneously. They’ll say, yes, you can be a nurse, but you’ll be on probation for 12 months and have to do random drug screens, AA, recovery group, and supervision at work.

Can’t use your multi-state privilege if your state offers that. That’s usually the worst-case scenario for a nurse to get completely denied a license based upon a single DUI in their past is extraordinarily rare. Almost for sure would-be other factors involved beyond just that one incident. So, take a deep breath. If you’ve had one DUI, it doesn’t mean the end of the world, and it doesn’t mean you’re never going to get a nursing license, but there may be some things you’ll have to explain.

If you do have an extensive criminal history, it’s probably a good idea to contact an attorney in your state that handles the board stuff, maybe to come up with a plan or to kind of say, alright, do I need to do these things before I apply for my license? That would make the most sense. As I said before, I’m only in Arizona, so I can only assist nurses here in Arizona. But I think this is good general advice for any nurse who’s had a DUI in the past.

What Can Disqualify You From Being a Nurse?

What can disqualify you from becoming a nurse? I’m only going to talk about applicants, not people already licensed by the state. This is just going to be kind of a general discussion of, alright, maybe I’m thinking of going to nursing school, or maybe I’ve completed nursing school. I must apply to a nursing board and get my nursing license. What are some of the things in my past that can disqualify me from being a nurse in the future?

Lastly, this is not going to be state-specific. It will be a general discussion as an attorney representing nurses or future nurses from the nursing board. The first and probably the most obvious thing is some heinous criminal incidents in your past. Almost none of the boards in any state contain a list of things like, if you’ve done these things, you can’t get a license. No matter what, they’ll have a general guideline.

But, any kind of violent crimes, if you were a maybe heavy distributor of drugs in some way, sexual misconduct, those are types of things that are hard to rehabilitate from, or at least in the eyes of the board. And so, having those in your past can be a bar to getting a license ever. When I talk to nurses that are always concerned about DUIs, marijuana possessions, theft, domestic violence, disorderly conduct, and maybe an assault charge, it may not feel like it, but these are relatively low-level crimes.

And so just because you’ve had some of those in your past generally will not disqualify you from getting a license in the future. Now, if you’ve had 20 assault charges, it’s probably not going to happen for you, but if it’s a handful of things from 20 years ago, it’s not going to hinder you from getting your nursing license.

And even in this scenario where the board was very concerned about past behavior, they would almost always offer the nurse a probationary license, meaning they would grant the license, but they would also simultaneously put them on probation, which could be one to three years. And at the end of that probationary period, then their license is unencumbered. That’s what normally happens. I guess the timing of the felony would matter. Some states require a certain period after either the felony, I guess the nurse or potential nurse was either convicted of the felony or completed the probationary requirements. I know here in Arizona, someone must have at least three years from the date of termination of probation of a felony to be eligible to reapply or apply for a nursing license.

Nursing Background Check, Criminal Records, and State License

The first things are heinous crimes, and two, high negative publicity events. I know it sounds strange, but boards of nursing are very concerned about the public image of nurses. And if there’s been a past incident with an applicant that sheds negatively upon the nursing profession, that board will be much less likely to issue the license. Most of those end up being criminal in nature, but you need to consider that these are political agencies and the politics of issuing licenses to people that are looked at as either dangerous or incompetent is not something most of the boards are willing to do.

Lastly, if you’ve had another healthcare license and you’ve been placed on the OIG exclusionary list. The office of the inspector general has this list where if you’ve had a license revoked, suspended, voluntary surrender, or a certain number of crimes, they can exclude you from billing under Medicare or Medicaid. The boards, for the most part, don’t care about that at all. However, the employers, or at least some employers, will. If they can’t bill for you, they will not employ you. So, you need to think, alright, what happened to put me on that exclusionary list? And then you also need to consider there are ways of getting off it after a period and, I guess, jumping through certain hoops. You need to investigate doing that as well.

Grounds for Permanent Disqualification From State Nursing Programs

There are very few things that can completely disqualify a nurse from getting a license. Most of the boards just want to see, alright, if something bad happened, have you learned from it? Did you take steps to remediate the behavior in some way? If it was maybe drugs or alcohol, did you go to AA? Did you go to counseling? Did you go to an intensive outpatient treatment program or rehab? Have you made just healthy changes in your lifestyle so that you can deal with stress better? These are the things the boards want to hear. Just because you’ve had one bad thing happen in your past, if you’ve learned from it and incorporated positive things into your life, that’s what the boards want to see. 

People make mistakes. It’s fine. But if the same thing keeps happening and you’re not learning from it, I mean, at some point, you likely have an interview with an investigator from a board if you’ve applied to some criminal history. You just state, I was set up or whatever, making excuses. Those are not the things that they want to hear.

Can a Felon Become a Nurse?

This is going to deal with people who may be thinking of going into nursing school. They might decide, alright, maybe I can get into nursing school. But will getting a license from a state be a problem down the road? I’m not going to focus on a currently licensed nurse who gets a felony. In short, if you have a felony in your past, can it completely bar you from becoming a nurse? The short answer is no. But, it’s going to be state-specific. I’m not going to talk about one state over another. This will be a general analysis of how to determine if you can get a license or not.

First, every state is going to have different rules, unfortunately. So if you apply to one state, it might be no problem. With another, it might be a complete bar to getting licensed. Before you go into nursing school, you must think, what state do I want to end up in? Then you need to research the rules of that state to figure out what felony conviction issues there are.

Most states won’t completely bar you from licensing if you’ve had a past felony. But they will initiate an investigation and then investigate. What was the reason behind the conviction? That conviction will be a determining factor in whether you can get licensed or not. 

Enrolling in Nursing School with a Felony Record 

You should probably call an attorney who deals with nursing board issues in the state you want to get licensed. They’re not going to give you a “you will get licensed” or “there’s no way” answer. But they can give you some general guidelines of what they’ve done before. The rules they’ve followed as far as felonies go. Also, you can put yourself in the best position to get licensed. That’s the most efficient use of your time. 

You could also go on the board’s website and find out the rules for felonies. Some states call it a “felony bar,” so Google that. But let’s say you do apply. They run a criminal background check, and it pops up. Almost every application states that if you’ve had a felony, you must disclose it. Then you’ll need to provide police records, court documents, or any documentation saying you’ve completed your sentence. 

After you gather all of that, the board usually wants you to write a statement about what happened. At some point, you’ll have an interview with the board investigator. They will inquire about the reasons behind the incident. Some felony crimes will probably completely bar you from ever getting a license. Any kind of child abuse, sexual misconduct, and involving yourself in the distribution of prescription drug felonies are some examples. You’re going to have access to all the narcotics in the world when you’re a nurse. So if you have any convictions before with diverting or selling prescription meds, they’re going to be very concerned about that.

Criminal Records that Pose the Biggest Obstacle to Becoming a Nurse

Super violent crimes, adult abuse, or things that are difficult to rehabilitate from are the biggest problem for past felonies. If you have drugs, alcohol, or domestic violence problems, you can do anger management, Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, or counseling. Things you can rehabilitate from are much easier to get a license after. Meanwhile, abuse, sexual misconduct, convictions involving honesty like fraud, and identity theft, are things some people won’t consider something you can rehab from. 

Just to recap. First, you must figure out what state you want to be licensed in. Second, call an attorney in that state knowledgeable about the nursing board. Ask them what are the laws around past felony convictions there?

There may not be a bunch of specific rules about the past. I know most boards will have specific implementations if you’re currently licensed and then get a felony. But not all the boards will have laws that state what’s going to happen if you’ve had a past felony. But still, talk it over. Where does the board usually look? What did they do with this type of felony in the past? If there are some steps, you can take during nursing school, like either going to AA, rehab, or counseling? Things that will then set you up and put you in a better position when you ultimately apply for your license. Those are important things that you need to think about.

So, take a deep breath. If you do have a felony, it’s not going to completely bar you from being a nurse, most likely. Just do your research, and good luck with your nursing career.

Can you become a nurse with a misdemeanor domestic violence charge? First, I use the word “charge” in the title because that’s what people search for, but I think many nurses confuse a charge with a conviction. But what most boards care about are convictions, not charges.

Charged vs. Convicted

A charge is just when you’ve been accused of a crime but haven’t been found guilty. Whereas a conviction generally is when you’ve signed a plea agreement, you’ve been found guilty at trial, or maybe even entered a pretrial diversion program. Most boards consider that a conviction. So, you haven’t just been charged. You’ve been convicted of domestic violence.

I’m just going to give a brief and general overview of what boards look at when reviewing past criminal incidents for a nurse. And then also, specifically, domestic violence because it happens honestly frequently. And this is going to be directed toward applicants. People that are maybe thinking about going to nursing school and determining whether they’ll ultimately be able to get a license with the board or you’ve already finished school, and you’re about to apply for your first board wondering if you’ll get a license.

Short Answer

Just to kind of allay any fears, it would be very uncommon for someone to have a domestic violence conviction in their past and still not be able to get a license with the nursing board. It would have to be a combination of other criminal incidents, or maybe you’ve had a string like ten domestic violence convictions or something like that. If you’ve just had a couple of domestic violence incidents, it is extraordinarily unlikely it would stop you from getting a nursing license. 

What the Nursing Board Will Ask Future Nurses to Disclose

What happens is, on any application, it will ask you to disclose past criminal incidents. Now, what they ask you to disclose varies from state to state. Nearly all states ask for felony convictions, and not all states ask for misdemeanor convictions. You need to check the application’s wording and see what they asked you to disclose. Just because you didn’t or don’t have to disclose a past domestic violence conviction doesn’t mean that they’re not going to investigate it because what they’ll do is they’re going to run a criminal background check. And if that incident pops up, they will likely contact you to discuss it. Some states don’t care about small misdemeanor stuff where there wasn’t a string of incidents, but others will want a detailed statement from you about what happened. And then they’ll likely want the police report and the court documents.

Defining Domestic Violence

When you say domestic violence, it sounds bad, but honestly, it’s almost anything that can happen in your home. It could be between a parent and a child, it could be between a boyfriend and a girlfriend, or it could be between spouses or relatives. And in violence, it’s a broad term, but it doesn’t mean there has to be a hugely aggressive act towards the other. It could just be an argument that led to some screaming, and then a neighbor calls the cops, and then they come in, and then maybe one of them or whoever you’re in the incident with was intoxicated in some way, and maybe you push them.

It could go a bunch of ways, but it doesn’t just mean there was a knockout drag-fist fight that led to a domestic violence charge. I’ve had people who they’ve thrown something at their partner, and they considered that to be domestic violence. As I said before, the board will care about how often this has happened the most. How long ago was it? The longer the time between your last criminal incident and when you apply, the better. If you’ve had three domestic violence incidents in the last year, that will be a huge red flag for the board. Whereas if you had one 20 years ago, it’s extraordinarily unlikely that they’re going to care at all about it.

Articles That the Nursing Board Will Care About the Most

They will care about whether the nurse was or the nurse applicant was under the influence. Most of the time, drugs or alcohol are usually involved in domestic violence incidents. And so, what the board will be concerned about is if that is the case, it will be written in the police report. I can tell you that. And in the report, it’s going to make you sound like the biggest drunk of all time. 

What the nursing boards will likely do is if there is a lot of detail about you being intoxicated during the incident or if you have a string of these incidents. You’re intoxicated in every one of them. The board will be concerned that you have a substance abuse issue. And then that gives into concerns about providing safe patient care. The underlying domestic violence charge or conviction, as long as it’s a relatively low number, is honestly not that big a deal.

Is It Because of a Substance Abuse Issue?

But if all of these were precipitated because of substance abuse, that’s the problem that you’re going to have. You’ll have to explain your current use of drugs and alcohol, your past use of drugs and alcohol, any other incidents you’ve had, and any work-related concerns about impairment. They will ask you very specific questions: how often do you drink? What do you drink? How many do you drink? How does that make you feel? Have you been intoxicated in the last 12 months? And the same for drugs as well. That’s what the nurse needs to prepare for if any of those domestic violence incidents involving drugs or alcohol get into those things because those are concerns that boards care about. And those are things that can stop a nurse from either getting licensed or they may have to go on probation for a period.

If a board is reviewing an applicant, then they have a history of drug and alcohol use, and the board is concerned. They can grant the license but also simultaneously put the nurse on probation, and then they’re monitored, drug testing, AA, nurse recovery groups, and supervised at work, which can last a year to 36 months. It just depends. Overall, having a domestic violence conviction in your past will not bar you from getting a license. Most likely, however, those complicating factors with drugs and alcohol, frequency, how many incidents you had, and then how close it was in time to when you applied are the things that ultimately will matter. So, that’s a kind of a brief description of how a domestic violence commission can affect a nursing applicant.

Other Blogs of Interest

• Nursing Law: Can you be a Nurse with a Misdemeanor Assault Charge?
• Nursing Reports: What Happens When a Nurse is Reported?
• Can you be a Nurse with a DUI?

What Can Disqualify You From Being a Nurse?

What can disqualify you from being a nurse? I’m only going to talk about applicants, not people already licensed by the state. This video will be a general discussion of, alright, maybe I’m thinking of attending nursing school, or perhaps I’ve completed nursing school. Now, I must apply to a board. What things in my past can disqualify me from being a nurse in the future? Lastly, this is not going to be state-specific. It’s just going to be a general discussion. 

The first and probably the most obvious thing is some heinous criminal incidents in your past. Almost none of the boards in any state contain a list of things like, if you’ve done these things, you can’t get a license. No matter what, they’ll have a general guideline. But, any violent crimes, if you were a maybe heavy distributor of drug diversion in some way. For instance, sexual misconduct is brutal to rehabilitate from, or at least in the eyes of the board. And so, having those in your past can be a barrier to getting a license. 

Getting a Nursing License After A Crime

It may not feel like it when I talk to nurses who are always concerned about DUIs, marijuana possessions, theft, domestic violence, disorderly conduct, and an assault charge, but these are relatively low-level crimes. Because you’ve had those in your past, they generally will not disqualify you from getting a license in the future. Now, if you’ve had 20 assault charges, it’s probably not going to happen for you. Still, if it’s a handful of things from 20 years ago, it will not hinder you from getting your nursing license.

And even in this scenario where the board was very concerned about past behavior, they would almost always offer the nurse a probationary license, meaning they would grant the license. Still, they would simultaneously put them on probation for one to three years. And at the end of that probationary period. Then their license is unencumbered. That’s what happens typically. 

I guess the timing of the felony would matter. Some states require a certain period after either the felony. I think the nurse or potential nurse was either convicted of the felony or completed the probationary requirements. I know here in Arizona, someone must have at least three years from the date of termination of probation for a felony to be eligible to reapply or apply for a nursing license.

Nursing Background Check, Criminal Records, and State License

The first things are heinous crimes, and two, high adverse publicity events. Boards of nursing are very concerned about the public image of nurses. And suppose there’s been a past incident with an applicant that negatively impacts the nursing profession. In that case, that board will be much less likely to issue the license. Most of those end up being criminals. Still, it would help if you considered that these are political agencies and the politics of issuing permits to people gives the eye. Either dangerous or incompetent is not something most boards are willing to do. 

When the State Revokes Your Nursing License 

Lastly, if you’ve had another healthcare license and you’ve been placed on the OIG exclusionary list. So the inspector general’s office has this list where if you’ve had a license revoked, suspended, voluntary surrender, or a certain number of crimes. They can exclude you from billing under Medicare or Medicaid. The boards, for the most part, don’t care about that at all. However, the employers, or at least some employers, will. If they can’t bill for you, they will not employ you. So, you need to think, alright, what happened to put me on that exclusionary list? And then you also need to consider ways of getting off it after a period and jumping through certain hoops. It would be best if you investigated doing that disqualify as well. 

Very few things can completely disqualify a nurse from getting a license. Most of the boards want to see if something terrible happened. Have you learned from it? Did you take steps to remediate the behavior in some way? If it was maybe drugs or alcohol, did you go to AA? Did you go to counseling? Did you go to an intensive outpatient treatment program or rehab? Have you made just healthy changes in your lifestyle so that you can deal with stress better? These are the things the boards want to hear. Just because you’ve had one bad thing happen in your past, if you’ve learned from it and incorporated positive things into your life, that’s what the boards want to see.

Can a Felon Become a Nurse?

This is going to deal with people who may be thinking of going into nursing school. They might decide, alright, maybe I can get into nursing school. But will getting a license from a state be a problem down the road? I’m not going to focus on a currently licensed nurse who gets a felony. In short, if you do have a felony in your past, can it completely bar you from becoming a nurse? The short answer is no. But, it’s going to be state-specific. I’m not going to talk about one state over another. This will be a general analysis of how to determine if you can get a license or not.

First, every state is going to have different rules, unfortunately. So if you apply to one state, it might be no problem. With another, it might be a complete bar to getting licensed. Before you go into nursing school, you must think, what state do I want to end up in? Then you need to research the rules of that state to figure out what felony conviction issues there are.

Most states won’t completely bar you from licensing if you’ve had a past felony. But they will initiate an investigation and then investigate. What was the reason behind the conviction? That conviction will be a determining factor in whether you can get licensed or not. 

Call a Criminal Defense Attorney 

You should probably call an attorney who deals with nursing board issues in the state you want to get licensed. They’re not going to give you a “you will get licensed” or “there’s no way” answer. But they can give you some general guidelines of what they’ve done before. The rules they’ve followed as far as felonies go. Also, you can put yourself in the best position to get licensed. That’s the most efficient use of your time. 

You could also go on the board’s website and find out the rules for felonies. Some states call it a “felony bar,” so Google that. But let’s say you do apply. They run a criminal background check, and it pops up. Almost every application states that if you’ve had a felony, you must disclose it. Then you’ll need to provide police records, court documents, or any documentation saying you’ve completed your sentence. 

After you gather all that, the board usually wants you to write a statement about what happened. At some point, you’ll have an interview with the board investigator. They will inquire about the reasons behind the incident. Some felony crimes will probably completely bar you from ever getting a license. Any child abuse, sexual misconduct, and involving yourself in the distribution of prescription drug felonies are some examples. You will have access to all the narcotics in the world when you’re a nurse. So if you have any convictions before with diverting or selling prescription meds, they will be very concerned about that.

Convictions that Pose the Biggest Obstacle to Becoming a Nurse

Super violent crimes, adult abuse, or things that are difficult to rehabilitate from, are the biggest problem for past felonies. If you have drugs, alcohol, or domestic violence problems, you can do anger management, Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, or counseling. Things you can rehabilitate from are much easier to get a license after. Meanwhile, abuse, sexual misconduct, convictions involving honesty like fraud, and identity theft, are things some people won’t consider something you can rehab from. 

To recap. First, you must figure out what state you want to be licensed in. Second, call an attorney in that state knowledgeable about the nursing board. Ask them what the laws are around past felony convictions there.

There may not be a bunch of specific rules about the past. I know most boards will have specific implementations if you’re licensed and then get a felony. But not all the boards will have laws that state what’s going to happen if you’ve had a past felony. But still, talk it over. Where does the board usually look? What did they do with this type of felony in the past? Are there some steps you can take during nursing school, like either going to AA, rehab, or counseling? Things that will then set you up and put you in a better position when you ultimately apply for your license. Those are important things that you need to think about.

So, take a deep breath. If you have a felony, it will not bar you from being a nurse completely. Just do your research and good luck with your nursing career.

Can You Be a Nurse With a Misdemeanor Theft? A couple of things first, this is not a state-specific discussion. I’m talking about a general analysis of what you need to think about if you have some past criminal incidents involving theft or shoplifting. Each board has different laws or ways to handle things. So, I will comprehensively analyze what you need to consider. 

First, for any board, when you have criminal convictions in your past. I’m just going to talk about nurses applying. I’m not going to talk about what happens if you already have a license. So this will discuss my past theft convictions, and I’m applying to become a nurse for the first time. What are the things I need to consider? 

Could You Say It Happened More Than Five Years Ago?

The first thing is, how long ago did they happen? If these things happened 20 years ago, maybe when you were a kid or early twenties, nothing has happened since then. There is almost no chance you wouldn’t be able to get your nursing license. People make mistakes. People change over time. And people do stupid things when they’re young. And so, if you had a few shoplifting incidents as a kid, it’s honestly not that big of a deal. Most boards find, I think, five years is like a reasonable amount of time if you’ve stayed out of trouble. If it’s been 20 years in this scenario, it will not become a hindrance to you getting your nursing license, most likely. 

Only One Misdemeanor Theft?

Two, how many there were? Now, if you’ve had seven misdemeanor theft convictions, that’s different from one. If you’ve had seven, that probably means you have a chronic compulsion to steal. Let me put it this way: it’s hard for people to wrap their minds around this, but they have substance abuse issues. They’re addicted to drugs, or they’re addicted to alcohol. Some people have an addiction to theft and shoplifting, and it’s not like it’s a diamond heist. It’s like they stole a box of chocolates and a shirt from Costco. It doesn’t make much sense to the average person, but it is a simple compulsion. It is an addiction that some people must handle. 

I even have clients like shoplifters anonymous, or they must work through these issues. They go to counseling; it is a problem in their life. There is a big difference between stealing some headphones when you’re 19 versus having habitual criminal issues involving shoplifting. Suppose it was just one or maybe two times from a long time ago. The more recent the theft conviction is, the more concerned the board will be. So, if you were convicted six months before you applied, the board will investigate that and most likely say, alright, well, what happened? They’ll probably interview you. They’ll want to know the outcome as far as the court case goes; did you do a diversion program? That type of thing.

Diversion Program

Most of these cases result in the nurse going into a diversion program where they must do education and maybe leave some community service, pay a fine, and that’s that. But, in the scenario where you continue to have criminal problems involving theft or shoplifting, the board will get into, alright, well, does this person need a psychological evaluation? And then what the person was stealing is essential as well. Let’s say you were maybe not a nurse but worked in a healthcare setting, and then you got caught stealing supplies, or if you’re stealing medications, that’s a huge problem. But in that scenario, the board will take a closer look and say, is this someone we need to monitor? Or is this someone we need to make sure has been given the treatment needed to move forward with her life and not have this be. 

I guess, a constant problem?  Any board that will issue a license to a nurse wants to ensure that they can provide safe patient care. And they don’t have behavioral concerns that could result in an unsafe patient environment. So, the worst-case scenario in a board’s mind is that someone has a whole bunch of theft convictions in their past. They give them the license, and then they steal medications or supplies from a patient, which leads to negative outcomes because the patient no longer has those things. You think the board always goes down like in the worst-case scenario. That may be convoluted and unlikely to happen, but that’s how the nursing board thinks. So, those are the things they will most likely go over.

Common Effect of Misdemeanor Conviction on Licensing

Overall, it will not be a big deal if you have a few misdemeanor theft convictions. Most likely. Very unlikely you wouldn’t get your license. If you have a handful of theft incidents involving something more valuable, more importantly, or tied to patient care, that could be a problem. The board will probably make you jump through some hoops and potentially put you on probation. So, that’s the little analysis of whether you could become a nurse if you’ve had a misdemeanor theft conviction. I think this is good information for everybody looking to become a nurse.

Other Blogs of Interest

• What Can Disqualify You From Being a Nurse?
• Can You be a Nurse with a Misdemeanor Domestic Violence Charge?
• Nursing Law: Can you be a Nurse with a Misdemeanor Assault Charge?

Can You be a Nurse with a Misdemeanor Drug Charge?

Can you be a nurse with a misdemeanor drug charge? This question is not going to be state-specific. I’m just going to give you general tips and things to consider if you apply for your nursing license. I know that many people that read these blogs may also think of going into nursing school and are thinking, alright, well, maybe I can get into nursing school. Still, I couldn’t get a license and wasted time and money. So, I will talk more about applicants or even people considering attending nursing school. It is not going to be directed towards currently licensed nurses.

Alright, so you have a past misdemeanor drug charge which could be a possession of a bunch of different drugs, potentially distribution. There are some misdemeanor distribution charges as well. If you’ve been convicted, you’ve gone to trial and lost. Or most likely reached a plea with the prosecutor. Then you had to do community service, fines, drug counseling, treatment, whatever. The board cares about convictions for the most part and not just charges.

It doesn’t mean you’ve ultimately been found guilty if you’re just charged with a crime. Most boards find that the nurse, in their minds, would be convicted. So, if you’ve had one misdemeanor possession of marijuana from 20 years ago, that will not keep you from getting your nursing license, let’s say.

What Does the Nursing Board Usually Look For in Drug Charges?

When a board looks at the criminal pass of a nurse, they’re going to run two things. They will ask in the application, which changes from state to state. Still, usually, they’ll ask: do you have any felony convictions? And then two, potentially, do you have any misdemeanor charges involving substance abuse? It does vary from state to state. You need to look at the specific language in the application of the condition that you’re looking to apply to and then see what you have to disclose. And then, the board is also going to write a criminal background check. Then anything that pops up in that criminal background check will likely reach out to you. And ask you to summarize what happened and maybe even potentially provide them with the police records or court documents, so keep that in mind. 

What Do They Care More?

Now, in a board’s mind, what they care about is that they’re going to license safe nurses that don’t have drug problems. And the board’s stated mission is to protect the public. They’re not there to protect the nurse, so they will see how many different misdemeanor drug charges or convictions they have? If you’ve had 15 in the last three years, that is a big problem, and you will probably not get your license.

If you had, as I said before, maybe one from 20 years ago, almost no chance you wouldn’t get your license. It’s a sliding scale. It would help to consider how much time had elapsed from when you had your last conviction until when you applied and how many you have. You can also think that if you did have a drug problem at the time, what have you done to fix the problem?

If a nurse is addicted to methamphetamine doesn’t mean you won’t get your license. Still, the board wants to know, alright, if you had addiction issues, what did you do to solve that problem? Did you go to AA or NA, or did you go to counseling? Did you seek treatment, maybe you went into inpatient rehab, or maybe you went into an intensive outpatient treatment program in IOP. Perhaps you’ve made some lifestyle changes, have a different friend group, or got away from an abusive spouse or something like that. There must be a change if there’s just a big cluster of drug problems at a time. There must be some rehabilitation change for the board to feel comfortable with issuing a license.

When Charges Are Frequent and More Than Just a Misdemeanor

Let’s say it’s a recent number of drug charges, and they think this nurse hasn’t done what they need to do. It’s possible they could issue the license and put the nurse on simultaneous probation for drug issues. Most states would include random drug testing, supervision at work, continuing education, a nurse recovery group, counseling, rehab, whatever. I mean, there’s a variety of things they could do. But even if you’ve had a bunch of recent items, but you’re willing to do what it takes to get your license, the board can, as I said before, issue the license but put you on probation. It could be anywhere from 12 to 36 months, sometimes more. And if you were to get through that period, your license would no longer be burdened. 

Get A Criminal Defense Attorney

Now, one bad thing about being placed on probation is if an alternative to a discipline program is not available for you, in an alternative discipline program in most states. There’s a confidential monitoring program where you can do everything I just listed, but it wouldn’t be public. And it wouldn’t be considered formal discipline. If the board only offers you proper discipline, that will stay in your record, at least in most states.

So, you need to think about, alright, even if I do get a license, if I have this blemish on it forever, is that going to dampen the chances of me possibly getting the job I want to get? I would say no, but it is more difficult to find a job if you have a disciplinary history. 

Before Attending a Nursing School, Get an Attorney to Review Your Drug Charges or Drug Conviction

In Summary

So, in summary, you’re probably fine if you have one or two misdemeanor drug convictions. The closer to the date you apply, the more scrutiny you will get from the board. But overall, every situation is a little bit different. What I would suggest, I’m in Arizona, so I only help nurses with the Arizona board.

Before you even apply to a nursing school, it might make sense to reach out to someone in the state you’re considering using, someone with experience with nursing board issues. And say, hey, have you had a similar scenario in the past? And then what is the likelihood of me getting a license once I apply? No one is going to be able to give you a 100% accurate guess. Still, if someone’s been doing the nursing board for a long time, they can usually give you a precise, decently, I guess, estimation of whether they think you would get licensed or not. And then maybe if there was disciplinary action attached to that or not.

When the State Revokes Your Nursing License 

Lastly, if you’ve had another healthcare license and you’ve been placed on the OIG exclusionary list. So the inspector general’s office has this list where if you’ve had a license revoked, suspended, voluntary surrender, or a certain number of crimes. They can exclude you from billing under Medicare or Medicaid. The boards, for the most part, don’t care about that at all. However, the employers, or at least some employers, will. If they can’t bill for you, they will not employ you. So, you need to think, alright, what happened to put me on that exclusionary list? And then you also need to consider ways of getting off it after a period and jumping through certain hoops. It would be best if you investigated doing that disqualify as well. 

Very few things can completely disqualify a nurse from getting a license. Most of the boards want to see if something terrible happened. Have you learned from it? Did you take steps to remediate the behavior in some way? If it was maybe drugs or alcohol, did you go to AA? Did you go to counseling? Did you go to an intensive outpatient treatment program or rehab? Have you made just healthy changes in your lifestyle so that you can deal with stress better? These are the things the boards want to hear. Just because you’ve had one bad thing happen in your past, if you’ve learned from it and incorporated positive things into your life, that’s what the boards want to see.

Nursing License: Do You Have to Report a DUI to a Nursing Board?

Does a nurse need to report a DUI to a board of nursing? First, this is not state-specific. I’m not going to talk about any state’s specific laws regarding criminal reporting for a DUI. This topic is more of what a nurse needs to analyze and determine whether they must report something or not. Then the consequences of not saying something. First, you must decide if the board requires you to write a charge or a conviction. Some states require a nurse to report a criminal charge. Then others only care if the nurse is ultimately convicted. Therefore, they wouldn’t have to report anything dismissed and go to trial.

Arrested or Not, is it a DUI Charge?

So, what is a criminal charge? Let’s say you’re out Saturday night, have a few drinks, get a DUI, the officer hands you a ticket, and there’s an arraignment date. In this case, you’ve been charged with DUI in your initial appearance to enter a plea. In that scenario, if the board required you to report a charge, you’d need to submit written notice to the board that you had been charged with the DUI. 

Now, there are scenarios where a nurse can be pulled over and given a DUI but not explicitly charged. In those scenarios, maybe the nurse refused to do a breathalyzer, took the nurse’s blood, and waited on the blood test results to determine whether to charge the nurse. Maybe it didn’t involve alcohol. It was a drug DUI. They once again got a blood test and were, I guess, testing it to determine whether the nurse was impaired or not or had a level of impairment in some way.

There are scenarios where you could have been pulled over and even potentially arrested but not charged explicitly at that point. At some point, when the blood test results come back, they deem they want to charge the nurse if they’re at the level. The nurse will get a notice from the court that they have been charged. And then, at that point, that’s when they can report it wherever they are on board.

Convictions and the Nursing Board

As far as a conviction goes, I know many states will require the nurse to report a conviction immediately. And then I’ll talk about that in a second, or sometimes they’ll say you’ll need to report any conviction on renewal. So, that’s another thing you need to figure out. If it is a conviction, do you have to notify it immediately? It’s usually a 10-day window. Or do you have to report it upon renewal? For most states, that’s two years. As far as a conviction goes, most boards consider a conviction any plea agreement, obviously any result from a trial that’s a guilty verdict. Most will feel the pretrial diversion program is guilty in some respects. For instance, if you’re a nurse who got a DUI and then you sign a pretrial diversion, most boards would consider that reportable. 

Consequences of Crimes: Could Cause You Your Nursing License

What are the consequences of not reporting a DUI? When you initially apply for your license for any board, they will do a criminal background check. Then, if they required a nurse to report any misdemeanors involving substance abuse, many of them do, you didn’t report it. Then they do a criminal background check, and it pops up. Well, they’re going to think that being deceitful and trying to hide your criminal past. Then that could be grounds to deny the application or give the nurse formal discipline.

That one thing to think about is you must read the specific wording of the application if you’re going to apply for a license anywhere. Then determine, alright, does this fit whatever happened to me? Some states will have a period. So, they’ll say, no, we’ll only go back ten years. In contrast, it’s entirely open-ended for others, and you could theoretically have to report something from 30 years ago.

If you are currently licensed and decide not to report something when you should have. Either immediately or upon renewal, that certainly could be grounds for formal disciplinary action if the board finds out about it soon. Every renewal would be considered another lying to the board. Let’s say you got a DUI, but you didn’t report it. The committee found out ten years later. You’ve had five renewals since then. They could say, well, you violated it every two years. So, you had multiple violations beyond just not reporting it. Then that doesn’t even get into the investigation that will likely follow to determine if that nurse has substance abuse issues or chronic problems with drugs or alcohol.

In Your Defense, DUIs need to be Reported.

So, for the most part, you will need to report a DUI. It’s going to depend on if you were charged or convicted. Now, are you going to lose your license over a DUI? For the most part, it’s doubtful that a nurse would lose their license just for a single DUI. Now, if a nurse has had three DUIs, they are on probation. If they get another DUI, they violate whatever consent agreement they’re on, which could lead to the revocation of a license.

But suppose it’s a first-time kind of regular DUI, not a crazy BAC. In that case, it’s implausible that you would lose your nursing license. DUIs, honestly, are probably the most common criminal issue that we handle. Domestic violence, theft, shoplifting, and DUIs are the three most common criminal cases that we deal with for nurses. Kind of lower-level stuff, but there are still things that could concern any board of nursing.