Background check question????

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Hi! I am new to this site and desperately seeking an answer. I am a nursing major in Texas. I applied to the nursing program to hopefully begin in the fall of 2015. I have a few charges on my record from many years ago. A dwi and an assault charge that I was not convicted of and it was dropped. I sent in a petition to the board, went back and forth with them and finally got word I would be able to sit for the NCLEX in the future. Now another problem arises.....I've been waiting for my acceptance letter. I've spoken with my schools nursing department and they said I've been cleared by one clinical site and they're still waiting on clearance from the other one. Well, I still haven't heard anything from the nursing department about whether or not I'm accepted, but I got a letter from PreCheck (background check company) saying I have been denied for clinical rotations from one of the sites. Does this mean I am not in? Why wouldn't I have heard something from the school? So confused and heartbroken. Please help!!!

Sincerely,

Kara.

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Call the school and ask?

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Call the school and ask?

Well, I will tomorrow, but I'm kind of freaking out and feeling down in the dumps. Just wondering if anyone had any info to maybe rest my mind a bit.

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Specializes in Complex pedi to LTC/SA & now a manager.

If the letter says denied from a clinical site you have your answer. Contact your school, you may be able to proceed if clear for other sites but this is pure speculation. Check your school handbook for the policy. Some schools will not let you proceed if barred from a single site. Other schools will let you continue if enough sites will accept you. It's possible the school just got notified. Often the candidate is notified before the third party (in this case the school)

I'm sorry there's not a simple answer to ease your mind before you can call school in the morning

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Call and ask your school tomorrow and see if they can put you in any alternative clinical sites. I know situations like these in Illinois where if you have been denied from a clinical (and they are lenient) they will put you at different site location.

My friend's brother was convicted of domestic assault charge from eight 1/2 years ago and they did allow him do clinical rotations at another site. But sadly he is still awaiting licensure by the BON (I think it's been seven months for him now).

How many years ago were your assault charge?

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Unfortunately, my school has the two clinical sites (the two major hospitals in our city that also own a lot of the clinics, etc.) and we have to be cleared by both. There are no alternates. My assault charge (which I wasn't even convicted of, it was dropped) was in 2011. I know that doesn't seem like very long ago, but my life has done a 180 since then. Do you know if anyone ever gets these clinical denials overturned?

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No sorryy. I never heard of that happening before here in Chicago because many clinical sites here are mostly federal owned and they require mostly what the bon requires.

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It sounds like you need to prepare for a *no* then if you already have learned you must be cleared by both.

What's plan B?

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I say to look into different options and nursing schools because what one school doesn't accept, the other one will. So if you going for your BSN and there's an ADN program that will accept your record, then I would go on that route first. Never give up on what you want most in life.

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Thank you for your positivity! The program I applied for is an ADN program. I don't really have a plan B, because my heart was so set on being a nurse. It's just so odd that one hospital cleared me and the other didn't. The one that did clear me is also known to be a stricter hospital, as it privately owned. The one who apparently denied me is the county hospital. Idk. Maybe I can get some positive news from the nursing department tomorrow. I just can't believe this would be the final no. Maybe they can tell me the steps to appeal this or something. Trying to keep my head up.

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Specializes in Critical Care, Education.

Bummer.

Hospitals - as well as other health care organizations who participate in any Federal healthcare programs (Medicare, Medicaid, etc.) - are Federally mandated to perform specific background checks on anyone who is going to be in contact with patients. Most organizations use a 3rd party to do them; my company uses PreCheck. Some organizations have additional criteria in their screens.

Schools are hard-pressed to find suitable clinical sites for their students these days, it's even worse in areas that have had a lot of new programs have cropping up. So, it's very unlikely that a school would even be able to take measures to accommodate a student that was barred from one of their clinical sites. Even if they could find a new site, they would have to negotiate a contract agreement & provide on-site qualified faculty. It simply would not be feasible due to the shortage of faculty, cost of the additional , etc...

There's no easy solution. You probably need to consult with a legal expert to figure out your alternatives & decide which path to take. At a certain point, "the juice isn't worth the squeeze"..... the cost of legal remedies may dictate your course of action.

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Any news today from your school?

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