Background Check / Finger Printing

[PKB0322]

Hi All!

I am almost enrolled at Chamberlain and I have a few issues that is making me a bit scared!

I have already completed the background check that came back clear but now it is time to do the finger printing and since COVID-19, we are not able to come into the building until it is safe and clear to go. With that being said, that stops me from completing my finger printing.

I am able to start classes although finger printing has not came back yet but because I am not able to complete my finger printing UNTIL AFTER class has started, it has became an issue that I will have to pay for tuition although there may be a possibility that it may not come back clear.

My issue is that I have a few things that Chamberlain included on their website that may make a student ineligible for enrollment.

Those being disorderly conduct when I was 15 years old (im 24 now) fraud (I had gotten in trouble with a fake ID at 18 years old) and a drug charge (I was not convicted, I had to do community service to drop it down to just a charge)

My question is: Has anyone gone through finger-printing process and not made it through Chamberlain? All though these are not convictions, they will show up on my finger prints and that is what I am afraid of.

[Ginja85, LPN]

Chamberlin will not be your issue; they want your $. The Board of nursing in your state will have questions for you. Start gathering all your legal documentation about your arrest, why you were arrested, how you have changed your life. I would honestly research if charges for fraud and drugs, regardless of conviction, will make you ineligible to sit for the NCLEX in your state. Be prepared to explain your arrest to every single employer and board of nursing if you move.

If I were in your situation, I would contact an attorney who has experience with the BON to see what they believe your chances of gaining your license are. I don't want you to wind up $75k in debt and be unable to obtain a nursing license.

[Lunah, MSN, RN]

The other issue will be clinical placements before you even get to the end of the program - some places may not allow you to do clinicals in their location based on the results of your background check. You need to have a frank discussion with the school. Good luck! 

[forloveellie]

I used to fingerprint for different jobs. If I was you I would get my record seal. Anything you did before you were 18 will not count against you. Every state has their own rules. Search up the nursing board for your state. You should be fine to attend the school.

[Sillycat911]

Hi All,

If it were me, I'd see an attorney to get all prior legal issues expunged, which is removed from record or sealed so nobody can ever see them.  The cost might be something like a G-ish but it may be worth it to protect yourself from worrying and extra questions and delays complicating things.  I literally know of someone who had a lifetime of law-breaking; drug charges and even prostitution and she got all hers expunged in California and got a license and even worked in a state hospital.  Knowing her case, I feel confident yours would be a simple process for an attorney used to getting charges removed off record or made hidden for nobody to see.