If you are a Healthcare professional and are arrested for DUI, there are consequences to your healthcare license.
I often receive telephone calls from healthcare licensees who tell me that the criminal attorney they hired advised them that since they are getting ARD, there are no ramifications to their healthcare license. I even received a phone call the other day from a young nurse who advised me that the local district justice advised her that there would be no licensing ramifications because she was “getting ARD”. This is simply not the case. Any healthcare licensee who is arrested for DUI faces licensing challenges. The arrest is what triggers the licensee’s problems. As a nurse, you are required to disclose an arrest within thirty (30) days. Other healthcare licensees may not be required to disclose the arrest; however, they will be required to disclose it on the bi-annual license renewal.
Even a criminal citation for public intoxication or disorderly conduct can have severe licensing ramifications.
Once your board becomes aware of your arrest, you will receive information from the Professional Health Monitoring Program (PHMP) asking you to contact the PHMP to undergo an evaluation of your alcohol use. Unless your attorney is skilled in Healthcare Licensing Law, he or she may not be able to adequately advise you as to the consequences of going to this evaluation or more importantly, how to prepare your defense so that no adverse action is taken against your license.
Do not call the Licensing Board for advice. Only a skilled Healthcare License Attorney can protect your interests.
For over 30 years, I have represented healthcare licensees in criminal and licensing matters. If you have been arrested for DUI or any criminal offense, please contact me to discuss your case.