Nurses (Texas Board of Nursing)
For a nurse, a DWI is a threat to the license you worked years to earn. The Texas Board of Nursing (BON) holds nurses to a high standard of conduct, and a DWI can trigger a reporting obligation, an investigation, and discipline that ranges from a warning to the loss of your license. Here’s what you need to know, and why the criminal defense matters so much.
You likely have to report it, within 30 days
Under the Texas Nursing Practice Act, nurses are generally required to report a criminal conviction to the Board of Nursing within 30 days, and this applies to both misdemeanor and felony offenses. Failing to report can be treated as separate misconduct, so the way you handle the DWI, and the timing, matters. (Applicants for licensure must disclose criminal history and may be required to petition for a Declaratory Order of Eligibility before the Board will approve a license.)
How the Board of Nursing handles a DWI
A DWI doesn’t automatically end a nursing career, but the BON has broad authority to act. Depending on the facts, your BAC, whether it’s a first offense, any accident, and your history, the Board’s options range from no action, to a warning or fine, to stipulations, to suspension or revocation.
The Board frequently views alcohol-related offenses through the lens of substance use. A nurse may be offered or ordered into the Texas Peer Assistance Program for Nurses (TPAPN): a monitoring program that can serve as an alternative to formal discipline but typically lasts a minimum of three years and carries significant conditions. Understanding whether TPAPN is the right path, or an overreaction to a one-time mistake, is exactly where experienced counsel matters.
Why the criminal defense protects your license
The BON acts on what happened in the criminal case. If your Houston DWI lawyer gets the charge dismissed or reduced, there may be no conviction to report and far less for the Board to act on. Fighting the DWI, challenging the stop, the breath or blood test, and the evidence, is the most direct way to protect both your freedom and your nursing career.
Are you a nurse facing a DWI in Houston? Call Blass Law at (713) 664-4000. We understand what’s at stake for your license and move quickly to protect it.
(Related: physicians & DWI · professional license hub · DWI cost)