I need some advice on my nursing career. I am an LPN who lives in a very small town in Virginia. June of 2011 I was convicted of misdemeanor assault. I had arrived at my mother in-laws home one afternoon and walked in. My husbands drunken cousin was there. I spoke to my mother-inlaw for a very short time, left the house and proceeded to my car. The cousin was on the front porch and shouted "hey Mrs. stuck up you don't know how to speak" as I turned to face him, he threw a cup of water on me. I did curse him at which time he punched me in my face twice (he was very drunk). I ran to my car and drove straight to the police station. 2 days later I found out that he was served but that  he filed counter charges on me for running him over with my car. Whoa. In court his grandmother who is a complete enabler testified that she saw me hit him with my car, even  though there were no injuries, he did not go to the hospital, and didn't file charges until after being served. The judge cited that he was clearly the aggressor, but refused to believe that the senior citizen would lie. She wasn't even there. We were both found guilty. My town is so small that it quickly got back to my employer and I was relieved of my duties because I could no longer work for a nursing home due to Medicare/Medicaid regulations for a period of 5 years. I have spoken to 3 people at the board of nursing and they all assure me, that because it is only a misdemenor I am allowed to work at a nursing home. I don't believe this to be true, but can I work at another facility (Hospital, Mental Health, etc.)? CaptainEricRN, from your experience, how long will this affect my career. My goal is to bridge into the RN program next summer, but I'm afriad that my career may be over. Any advise you can offer would be greatly appreciated. I know that I put a lot of my business here, I just can't believe that something that I was completely innocent of can ruin my life.

Thanks so much for your timeTeresa, VAlpn