Upon graduating the UNE ABSN program in August 2022, I plan on becoming licensed by examination in the state of Maine. Maine is a Nurse Licensure Compact state, which means that a nurse that is licensed in one state can practice in any other state that is also a part of the Nurse Licensure Compact agreement. The application process is completed and submitted online (the use of paper applications has been removed as of January 2020). I have filled out a form in order for the director of the nursing program to verify my completion of this program, and upon graduation that form will be sent to the state of Maine and I won’t be required to submit my own transcripts. Maine does require a criminal background check in order to begin practicing. I intend to continue working within Maine Health (where I currently work), which means I will not have to go through the background check process again since I am an internal hire. I believe that I will have to be fingerprinted or biometrically scanned when I start working as a nurse, and this will be done through the hospital.

In our class lecture, we had members from the Attorney General’s Office and the Medical Professionals Health Program come and present on practicing as a nurse here in the state of Maine. I think that the presentations were very helpful to get an insight to what nurses can face in their careers outside of caring for patients. In the state of Maine, a referral to the Medical Professionals Health Program can be made for a nurse that is struggling with mental health/behavioral health, addiction, stress, and burnout in the workplace. This program is put in place to help prevent the issues the nurse is dealing with from impacting their licensure as a nurse. As a nurse, it is important to not only recognize these issues within yourself, but also you are mandated to report any other nurse who may be impaired or endangering themselves or their patients while working. The Attorney General’s Office gave us many examples of what can happen to nurses if they are caught in criminal action and the consequences (often losing their license) after trial/sentencing. As a nurse, I will protect myself mostly by doing what I believe to be the right thing and DOCUMENTING! If there is ever a time that I am under investigation from something that I did or did not do in the workplace, I feel as though my documentation could help verify that I was not acting in ill will when caring for my patient. Although I hope that this does not happen when I am a nurse, I am glad we had presenters come and inform us that these issues are prevalent and can happen to just about anyone!