FL--background check questions

[Nicholaus88]

Hello, I am sincerely interested in pursuing a degree and license in Nursing. I have always lived an honest life and I love to help people so I feel this would be a great field for me. I have also worked as a caregiver when I was younger and I enjoyed it. I did get arrested and convicted for misdemeanor battery domestic violence in 2009 in the state of Florida however. This is the only charge I have ever had on my record and I was young and dumb and the way the punishment was presented to me, it made it seem as though the charge wasn't a big deal. It wasn't until after I was convicted that I realized I royally messed my life up. I was actually working in a nursing home at the time of the incident and they knew about it right off the bat and did not want to get rid of me because they knew I had a good heart and that I was a great worker. They didn't get rid of me but I did resign from my position several months later in fear of getting in trouble for knowingly working there with a criminal record. Since then I have been working in the environmental field cleaning up oil spills and other environmental disasters because I felt it's the only way I can help out people legally. My question is, will I have any chance at getting my RN license at all in Florida with it being 5 years since the incident? Will Pensacola State college even accept me into the nursing program? I contacted the Board of Nursing and they haven't given me any straight answers but according to the disqualification matrix, I do qualify for an exemption. Has anyone had any experience with this regarding a DV charge? Thanks so much for your help and I am sorry if this has been covered prior to me posting this!

[traumaRUs, MSN, APRN]

Hi and welcome to AN - the largest peer to peer nursing network!

We can't answer these questions - you need to contact the school directly. There will be other posters by soon...

[Nicholaus88]

Thank you very much for the warm welcome! I know that would be the best option but it seems the college I am going to is closed until January 5th and the anticipation is making me anxious. When I found out there was a possibility of getting my RN license, I dropped all of my plans and dedicated my future plans to nursing! There is nothing I want more!