Pending DWI in TX

Nurses Criminal

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Hi everyone,

I currently have a pending DWI and a pending possession of drug paraphernalia in Texas and am trying to go to nursing school. TBON basically told me that I cannot go to any school as long as my case is still pending. I'm not exactly sure when this will all be settled and need to move on with my life so I decided to look into nursing schools in other states. With that being said, does anyone know of states that allow students to attend nursing school while having pending criminal charges??

Thanks a bunch in advance!

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Just a thought - I'm not sure where you are in your schooling process. But if you have classes to take that may fulfill some of the requirements take them while you're waiting. You'll be that much closer when everything gets settled.

KO

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Thank you for your response.

Once thing that I forgot to mention is that I am finished with all of my pre-reqs and ready to go. I was supposed to go this January but had to reject it due to my circumstances :/

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Specializes in Emergency Department.
Hi everyone,

I currently have a pending DWI and a pending possession of drug paraphernalia in Texas and am trying to go to nursing school. TBON basically told me that I cannot go to any school as long as my case is still pending. I'm not exactly sure when this will all be settled and need to move on with my life so I decided to look into nursing schools in other states. With that being said, does anyone know of states that allow students to attend nursing school while having pending criminal charges??

Thanks a bunch in advance!

I'm going to be very blunt. You're going to need to have your pending cases resolved. If those cases result in a conviction, your chances of getting into nursing school any time soon will be very low. I'm not going to say "impossible" because there probably will be schools that will accept you. Some places may not necessarily care about pending cases... but they most likely will if you get convicted because some of their clinical sites may not accept students with certain convictions.

The bigger challenge will be getting licensed easily if you get convicted of those charges. Get this stuff resolved and then go for it. If you're found "not guilty" or the charges are dismissed and therefore you've not been convicted, I would strongly suggest that you get copies of your case disposition from the court because your arrest record will follow you for the rest of your life. No disposition from the court would mean that the case could still be pending... make sense?

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Your focus cannot be looking for a nursing school in another State that will let you in; as the person just above me stated so well, your focus needs to be on resolving these charges. Until it's settled, there IS no "moving on with your life", this IS your life until it's over and done with.

And even then, it's really not 'done with', it's just a starting point from where you can figure out what you can and cannot do regarding nursing. I don't know of any schools (or State BoNs, for that matter) that look at these things lightly. You'll probably want something definitive, in writing, stating you won't be denied licensure because of these legal proceedings before you even consider going to nursing school. After all, what's the point if you can't get licensed?

All that said, people can and do overcome obstacles such as this, but it's usually after enough time has passed, and demonstration can be made of successfully moving past it, maturing, etc. Pretty sure a week or two isn't going to be significant enough to merit discounting the situation....

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Specializes in hospice.

I'm pretty sure the substance abuse issues that led to all this need to be the first priority.

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Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.

Thread moved for best response. There are any to help you here....this is a moderated forum so you may see a slight delay in response and posts.

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Specializes in Emergency Department.
I'm pretty sure the substance abuse issues that led to all this need to be the first priority.

If either or both of these charges result in convictions, I'm sure that some rehab will also be a requirement. Depending upon the court's whim or procedures, the court may defer prosecution on the basis of rehab and if all terms are met, they could very well dismiss all charges resulting in no convictions. The BON will be able to see those charges and if prosecution doesn't go forward, they're still "open" and the BON will want a dispo on those. You're right though, the underlying substance abuse problem will have to be addressed.

Thread moved for best response. There are any to help you here....this is a moderated forum so you may see a slight delay in response and posts.

Esme, thanks for moving this thread. OP: There's quite a few people in healthcare that have substance abuse issues, have had their licenses suspended, revoked, or even never issued because of their problems. That's the reality you're now living in and nursing schools want their graduates to actually be able to be come nurses. They'll be extremely reluctant to accept you until things are all settled and you have nothing that will prevent you from being licensed.

This particular forum will likely be an excellent resource for you as you move through the entire process. I wish you well, and with that, I'm out - I have no SA issues, so I'm at the limit of my knowledge on this end.

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Specializes in retired LTC.

OP - you are using the services of a lawyer, yes?

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