License Question (TX)

[helpme]

Help!!

I am planning a career change, and I have narrowed down my list to a couple of careers, one of which is obviously nursing. This is with the ultimate goal being obtaining a masters. Anyway, my dilemma is that I have 2 misdemeanors on my record, both of which are DWI's. One is 7 years old, the other is 4. No wreck or injury involved, just a lack of good judgement at the time. I don't have a chronic drinking problem (I swear!) and I am married with a baby, 2 dogs, mortgage, etc. I am a good little boy now..... All that said, I would like to know what my chances are of being allowed to write for the exam. I have called the BNE without much success, as they want me to send in my $189 and fingerprints and wait 3-6 months. Bottom line, i would just like to have some idea of my chances of being able to become licensed. Anyone have any ideas, anyone know someone in a similar situation? Any help would be appreciated, thanks!

Brian

[JeannieTaylor]

Hi Brian:
I'll try to give some insight into my situation in the state of Arizona. On the NET test (Nursing Exam Test) required for admission to the Nursing Program in AZ, you are asked about 'a record.' I do not know exactly how much bearing this has but since it is 2 DWI's which are fairly old already, the further out you go (in years) from the date the better. In AZ, it takes about 4 years to finish up an AAS degree in Nursing alone. About 2 years are spent handling the pre-requisites and co-requisites courses (if you don't already have these required courses under your belt) and then 2 years of Nursing classes. Currently, the competition to get into the Nursing Program is so stiff in my area, that I've had friends say that the school is now requiring all pre-req.'s and co-req.'s are out of the way before they will accept you into the program. With that said, you can see it would take most 4 years of schooling before they can test for their RN exam and that puts you theoretically 4 more years away from your DWI record.
Perseverance: Keep calling BNE and phrase it something like: 'if this was my only record, what are my odds of getting a license in 2 to 4 years?' SOMEONE should be able to answer that without having to worry about CYA issues.

Good luck

Jeannie

[helpme]

Thanks for the response, I appreciate it!

Brian

[helpme]

Well, I went to the extreme and emailed a board member of the Texas BNE, and all I got for my efforts was an email that told me exactly what is on the website (in other words, no help at all.) I called the other boards for the fields I am thinking of entering (psychology and speech therapy), and they were able to give me a clear answer based on the detailed information I gave them. Oh well.....