Fingerprints for California Nurses

Nurses Criminal

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Hi everybody,

I am an ex felon (possession of marijuana in 1993) that has had my conviction dismissed/expunged through a 1203.04 petition as well as been granted a Certificate of Rehabilitation from the California Superior Court. I have done my research and I already know that California Board of RNs cannot deny me a license on the basis of my conviction because I have the Certificate of Rehabilitation.

Additionally, because of the above mentioned 1203.04/ Certificate of Rehabilitation I do not have to declare the conviction to any non government entity, so this means any Nursing school or private employer. The conviction is also not reportable by a non govt. reporting agency. Now here is the thing: The conviction will show up if fingerprints are taken. Sorry it took me so long to get to my question:

Do all health care related employers in California require fingerprints or do some only do standard background checks?

I've had two jobs offers in the last month from two different health care systems and neither required fingerprinting just standard background checks.

Sorry if this is nosey but were marijuana charges really a felony in the early 90's?! My how times have changed. Good luck!

Specializes in Psych ICU, addictions.

Good that you did your homework! But unless it was the BRN themselves that told you that you'd have no problems, I wouldn't relax until the BRN actually issues you the license, since they are the ones with the final say. Just be prepared.

As far as employers go...I work two jobs. Neither wanted fingerprints; both wanted background checks. But I do know that some facilities will ask for fingerprints.

Hope this helps. Best of luck.

Thank you for the response, by health care systems do you mean entities like Kaiser or Sharp?

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