Any nurses out there hired by a hospital after a minor felony on their record?

[RN-NewGrad]

Does anyone know FIRST hand whether or not a hospital will actually consider a candidate with a felony on their record?

More than 14 years ago when I was only a teenager, I was charged as an accomplice in a theft. I DID NOT do the crime and I actually was the one that reported it. But maybe cause I knew so much about it or the state's attorney had a quota to meet, who knows, I was also charged. At the time, I was a young, scared kid who had no understanding of what my rights were or how a conviction would effect me. I didn't have a lawyer (just the PD). So, when they offered me a deal that if I plead guilty they would let me go, I took it. I think they even told me the conviction would come off my record. Anyways, it has never effected me getting a job before. I worked mostly in daycares.

Now I am a new grad nurse with a license and even though I know it is tough for all new grad to find jobs right now. I need to know if I even have a chance. The state gave me a license so they don't see my conviction as a threat to patients. Will the hospitals or other facilities? I know hospitals do background checks so am I wasting my time applying? They say they don't automatically disqualify you if you have a conviction but one hospital I know won't even take an ex con as a volunteer. I am so worried that I went through all this schooling, time, and money to be a nurse, and now I can't. It's hard to know if I don't get responses from the employers because of lack of experience or if it is my background.

If there is anyone out there who was hired AFTER a felony conviction and the hospital knew about it, please tell me. Please only responses intended to help. I don't need anyone judging me. I am an honest, law abiding citizen who has never hurt anyone in her life. Nursing is my passion, I am not going to switch careers or give up. I am hoping to hear from someone who knows first hand whether a hospital will consider me or not. Thanks in advance!

[cindybf]

Can anyone tell me if hospitals actually fingerprint you before a job offer or do they just ask for the basic background check with your ssi and dl#?

This is a major difference because if your background has info on it more than ten years ago it probably will not show up in a basic background check however it will show up on any fingerprinting check. Also I wonder if they do them in all states or just the states you have lived in the past 10 years?

I have a very minor misdameanor 13 years ago in a different state, I know I wont have a problem getting licensed or getting into nursing school and if hospitals dont fingerprint for rn jobs then I really should not have a problem there either because my record is espunged and I dont have to disclose it unless I know it will come out on the fingerprinting, which it will and I plan to disclose to the BON but not the hospital when applying for jobs unless I will be fingerprinted. Thanks in advance!

[Lovenox1]

The company that does the background checks for the hospitals do run fingerprints. Sometimes the schools kinda do, but really when you apply for the state test and jobs. The nurse/lawyers in your area will help you if you hire them and will consult you as well. :starornament:

[Rick Walters]

OK - First drop the "I didn't do it" once you plead guilty that doesn't matter anymore - you are guilty period.

I am a staffing coordinator for a large hospital. Believe it or not I get a good amount of applicants that have had a teenage indiscretion. This isn't a kiss of death - when I see the yes box checked I look to the explanation (almost every application has instructions to explain all yes answers on a separate sheet of paper....). Those that are forthright and simple tell the story ( I made an error in judgement when I was 14. I was arrested for ______ and a plea bargain was reached see attached disposition papers from ___ court) will get a call from me. We have fired those that checked no. We do give them a chance to explain but once it is determined that they lied on the application we cut them loose.

[sharon126]

I totally agree with you about all that you said. My situation is a little different from yours but the result is still the same. I have been a registered nurse for 8 yrs now and was accused of a crime that I did not commit. Let me give you a little background, fell in love with a long time family friend 19 yrs my senior. Shortly after he was diagnosed with lung cancer. Eventually I left my job, my home and my family to care for him at his request because there was no family around willing to help him. While I was with him, I assisted in having 3 of his sisters obtain visas to come to america. 2 before he died and the last one didn't make it until after. When the 2 sisters were there with him he gave them $200.00 a week and they did the cooking. Mostly the money was for them to buy what they needed however they didn't see it as such and insisted that I should purchase what they needed out of the house money. I continued to work at my job in NY while they were there, between using holidays, and vacation days I must have only worked 14 12 hour shift in 3 months and still got my full salary. After they left I could not leave him so I had to stop working. He died 2 1/2 months later He had a will that only listed his 2 daughters and 4 grandchildren of which I was aware but didn't care. My main focus was making him comfortable. When he knew that he was going to die he said that no one has ever taken care of me the way that you have. He paid up my bills, send me a check in the mail, and signed over the title to his car to me. As his eyes closed the daughters who were never involved and didn't care started to threaten my life, accuse me of stealing his car and then money. They brought it to the attention of the police who spoke to me about it. I gave them all the information which was verifiable but no one followed up the leads. 15 months later I was arrested with 3 felony charges. They had no witness so the case went on for 1 year and was finally set for trial because I wouldnt take their deal. The day before the trial it was cancelled and another 10 months passed before we went to trial. There was yet another deal which I said no to. A few days before the trial the judge wanted to see me again to inform me that I was facing 30 yrs if I don't take the deal and I said that I did nothing wrong so I refused. We went to trial and I was found NOT GUILTY of the 2 charges that I was on trial for. The exploitation of the elderly charged was dropped before we went to trial. The BON did investigate and found no probable cause so my license was never suspended. It as always remain active but getting a job has been tough because I have not worked for more than a year and the fact that I was arrested doesn't help either. Recently someone needed a nurse quickly and I took the assignment. It was private and no question was asked so I said nothing. All was going well, the lady and I a good fit. I left on friday after helping her to get all her paperwork in order with her job and her sons job regarding family leave. In order to do this I had to go to my home and get my fax maching so that the necessary paper works could be faxed to where they needed to go. when I returned on monday I was met by her son outside and told not to come back. Apparently he believed that someone died in my care and I am under investigation which was so far from the truth. The way I look at it, thier lost. Recently I have had the arrest record sealed, If I am lucky enought to get an interview, I will however, sing like a bird because it is out there. All one has to do his google my name and all the bad come up before you see the little small caption of the aquittal.

[sharon126]

Where are you a staffing coordinator Mr. Walters. I think that you might be one in a million

[thunderbolt]

your situation sounds incredibly like mine. but i also will never give because nursing is my passion

[2kidsan2halfs]

Thanks for the reply but as I mentioned before felonies can not be expunged. And by "minor" felony I mean that it was not murder, rape etc. There is a BIG difference between murder and some petty theft but they are still both felonies, hence the word minor. Besides, as I mentioned, I DID NOT DO THE CRIME in the first place and I was a teenager(charged as an adult), so to me, it was minor. Also if you start reading the law books, there really are some laws that would shock you. Things you would never even think are illegal are and the word felony implies a terrible crime and that isn't always the case but I am still being classified in the same category as murders and rapists and so no wonder I can't get an interview.

Also, as I stated, I did not disclose this to my nursing school director or the BON prior to sitting for the boards because I did not know it was on my record until after passing the NCLEX as I already explained. The fingerprint check did not come back apparently until after the test. Maybe my felony is only seen by FBI fingerprint and not by running my name (I don't know) So, I have been honest. As soon as I learned it was on my record, I have always checked yes on my applications.

I already know from talking to lawyers that legally there is nothing I can do to fix this but get a pardon, but that will never happen because after doing some research, it appears that there are thousands of pardon applications sitting on the governors desk having never been looked at because governors don't want to appear to be soft on crime.

The reason for my post as I mentioned before was to see if any HR person will even consider looking at a job application from someone who checked yes to a felony. This isn't about being honest, because I am being honest. I can't really explain the situation very well anyways without the interview. I still would like to hear from those that have checked yes and got the interview.

On a side note, there are countless people that have been wrongfully convicted (including myself) in this country alone and society looks down on them and asks them to be sorry for the crime they did not commit. Imagine for a second how your life would be if YOU were accused of something you did not do and then for the rest of your life you had to be looked at as a criminal and couldn't even get a job and people told you to just be honest and say you are sorry and have learned from your mistake (In other words admit to the crime even though you didn't do it). Don't think it is possible... then you are wrong. It happens way more than anyone thinks. Think about it. Police officers are just regular people like you and me. They are biased and they aren't judges or lawyers either so when they arrest someone, many, many times they are wrong. But when a jury and judge sees that person in the courtroom, they like you, automatically think guilty because this society thinks that if they were innocent then the cop wouldn't have arrested them. We really put a lot of power in the hands of the police officers. Many of which are crooks themselves. Our legal system is far from anything we want it to be or think it is. From the cop all the way up to the law makers themselves. The system is flawed and therefore can't be trusted. But we are taught as young children to trust the police officer so we do and we trust the system and so there are a lot of you out there who automatically assume I am guilty and so it is my mistake to live with. Isn't this what the HR people think too, probably. So that's my problem. How do I get to be seen on my application as the smart, skilled nurse I am instead of the crime I was accused of?

I know this was a year since you posted this, I hope you are still a member. I live inRichmond just finished school an have put in numerous apps with checking yes to a conviction, but no bites back yet. I was just wondering did you ever get the job.

[monique123]

I understand you 100% because I'm in a very very similair situation. I had a felony conviction on my record 10 years ago and I was 18 years old then. I did get the conviction sealed but in healthcare the BCI told me that they are aloud to send employers my record when it comes to working with elderly and children. This has made me think twice about finishing my education in nursing as a LPN. I am also a law abiding citizen and I was also at the wrong place and time when I got charged, my boyfriend even admitted in court that he was responsible. So I guess they convicted us both, but he did two years and I got probation because I was considered a first offender. I also called the Ohio board of nursing about my situation and they told me they do give license to people with criminal histories, but if I went that far into getting my license I'm scared the BCI would give employers a disqualifying number which shows up preventing me from working as a nurse. My conviction wasn't violent towards anyone either.

[Amoona]

I have been working on all my prereqs for the past 3 years, i had made stupid mistakes that I regretted 7 years ago, I applied for a healthcare workers waiver in il RECENTLY and waiting now to get a waiver granted. I also got my CNA 1 year after the crime but never used it because I needed a waiver and never applied for it because i was too ashamed. It was retail theft and use of stolen credit card , like I said real dumb mistakes I made as a young adult, which I regret because they haunted me everywhere until today. I also just applied to get my records sealed in Illinois as well through the cook country court houses. They said I am not able to expunge it but I do qualify for a seal which can take up to 8 months.

Point is, I just got accepted to nursing school after all these hard years of working. They told me I have 2 weeks to submit a backround check along with all my documents, and supposed to start clinicals in september. I am extremely afraid of whats going to happen, Its going to come up because it has not been sealed yet, I will not try to hide it and never thought of hiding it, I just dont want them to tell me I cant go to school. I wont be done for another 2 years. I need 4 semesters in school and by then I will have the seal complete. The IL public health department that I most likely will be granted the waiver and will have the waiver on my record with the state before school starts. Do you guys think that they can legally tell me I cant finish school now? or redetermine my acceptance to nursing school? It took me years to finish all my sciences and pass the teas test. ? I wont even be applying to take the NCLEX for another 2 years. Please tell me your honest opinion. I SERIOUSLY AM A CHANGED PERSON and no longer around bad influences in my life.

[Lovenox1]

I actually finished nursing school and did not think that anything would come up, since I went through the first background check for school and nothing showed up, and had not put anything down, since I never did a crime aganist a person, or hurt anyone, and it was a stupid thing that happened years ago.. Anyway I hired a Nurse attorney while waiting to take my NCLEX, maybe a couple of months sooner. And she agreed with me and it went past the board and was okayed and I have been a nurse for over a year. I hired a Nurse attorney out of Austin Texas, she was not even in my home town, nice thing was that she was working right in the Capital of Texas where the board is at and has a lot of contact with them for many things..But although I still have the paper work ect from the board I would hate to go through explaining to an employer. But nothing was asked about this problem when I was hired. And I was passed by the board. The board does know that a lot of peole did do dumb things early on, they have and had children too!

[HoustonTXRN]

i had a record before i applied to nursing school. I did my background check with the board of nursing, they allowed me to go to nursing school, once i got in, i didn't have any trouble doing clinical rotations at the hospitals. After i graduated, the took the NCLEX with no problems since the board already knew i had a record, everything was smooth sailing. The problem came with finding a job! I was unemployed for 2.5 years, that was very hard to grip only because you think you would get a job right away after graduation (something all grads expect). i landed a job, yes, but i was fortunate to land this job after i had gone through so many interviews and having 2 job offers taken back. It was very hard on me psychologically. Good Luck!

[Vrthomas]

Lovenox1: I am interested in getting some information regarding the attorney you used. Could you tell me a way I could contact you, or a way I can get you my email information?

Thanks!

Vicki