I will receive dozens of phone calls over the next month from nurses who have been arrested for a DUI. The holiday parties and dinners with friends, the glasses of wine and champagne and SO MUCH FOOD and needing to be a million places at once create the perfect cocktail for disaster. Not one of the nurses who call me in the month of December will have intentionally driven with too much alcohol in their system. They will have all felt fine before getting in the car to drive and most of them will be just slightly over the legal Blood Alcohol Level. 99% of my clients this month will have a BAC between .08% and .15%.
You are not going to read this post proactively. No one is going to read this and PREVENT a DUI from occurring, so I am not even going to bother with the “take Uber, get a DD, blah, blah, blah…” This isn’t a public service announcement. This is advice about WHAT TO DO IF YOU ARE A RN WHO HAS BEEN ARRESTED FOR A DUI. The first thing you need to know is that you are NOT going to lose your RN license. Depending on your case, its very likely that the BRN will issue a Citation and Fine against your RN license and nothing more. The second thing you need to know is you need some serious help in order to achieve this result.
HIRE A DUI AND RN LICENSE DEFENSE ATTORNEY
You are going to need 2 types of attorneys: 1.) a criminal defense attorney who specializes in DUI defense and 2.) an administrative law attorney who specializes in RN license defense. Having one attorney who is an expert in both is nearly impossible to come by, but because RN Guardian is 100% dedicated to representing nurses and ONLY NURSES, we have those attorneys. Pop on over to the Testimonial page to read their success stories.
3 PARTS TO EVERY DUI FOR A RN
The 3 parts to every DUI for a RN are the DMV or driver’s license (this is the first thing you have to take care of); the DUI or criminal portion (this is your court date and DUI case) and the BRN and your RN license. You do not need to worry about your RN license until the DUI is completely over and done with. You do not need to disclose the arrest to the BRN, nor should you. You very likely do not need to disclose the DUI arrest to your employer, nor should you. Our goal is that no one ever has to know about the DUI and in many of our cases, no one but you and us ever does!
OUTCOMES WITH THE BRN AFTER THE DUI
There are 4 outcomes for a RN after the DUI case is over.
- The DUI is dismissed, the BRN does nothing.
- The DUI is reduced to a wet and reckless and the BRN issues a citation and fine.
- You are convicted of a DUI and the BRN still issues and Citation and Fine.
- You are convicted of a DUI and the BRN files an Accusation
1 through 3 are what we are shooting for. There is more information on the blog regarding the Citation and Fine and why that is such a great result and there is more information on an Accusation and why that isn’t the end of the world. Did you notice that there isn’t a number 5 that says: “you lose your RN license”? That is because our clients do not. Loosing your RN license isn’t an option for the clients who we defend. In fact, my favorite statistic is 98%- we have a 98% success rate for keeping our client’s RN licenses active and intact following a first time DUI and a 90% success rate for subsequent DUIs.
I know that this post feels like it is making light of what is undoubtedly a traumatic and stressful experience for you. I understand how terrified you are of losing your RN license and the career you love. I understand that you are embarrassed and mortified about what happened and you are beating yourself up over it, so I know you don’t need me to tell you how bad it can be. You only need to know this: we can help you. You will get to keep your RN license. There is a very good chance your employer and colleagues will never know. It will be ok.
If you are a nurse arrested over the holidays for a DUI, please give me a call. I will listen to the details of your case, explain the process and give you a very realistic idea of what to expect moving forward. We understand what your career and the RN after your name mean to you; that is why we have made it OUR CAREER to DEFEND YOURS~