Could my criminal history be grounds to bar me from license in California

[Guest1063608]

I'm currently 21 in a BSN program and have made a couple mistakes that I'm afraid will come back to bite me when I apply for licensure. At the age of 16 I was charged with driving without a license, driving without insurance, and duty upon striking a fixture. At the time I did not know how to challenge the charges so I simply pleaded guilty and received around $200 in fines that I paid in full. Then at age 19 I was charged with shoplifting a $2 item from Walmart. I agreed to sign an agreement with the judge as part of a pre-trial diversion. I was required to stay out legal trouble for 3 months as part of an unsupervised probation. I did not have any further run ins with the law during those 3 months or for the past 2 years and both cases have been dismissed. I never went to jail or was fingerprinted and my FBI rap sheet shows "no records found." Can the California BRN deny a license over dismissed traffic citations and a theft of an item that was valued at only 2 dollars? Can they find these charges if they occurred in another state and are not in the FBI's database? I'm asking for advice from someone who knows anything about the BRN in CA. I have read many threads on here of people who have had worse offenses and got approval in CA unrestricted. I have also read stories of people who made innocent mistakes, and were initially denied.

[beekee]

You may get away with it in California, I suppose. But what if you need to move in the future to a state that does find out? Usually, the lying is a more serious offense than the original crime.

[Persephone Paige, ADN]

The BONs run the AHCA background checks. I was arrested on a Felony charge, complied with drug court, the charges were dropped and I later applied for expungement and it was granted. That being said, the hospitals use 3rd party background checks. Depending on the company they use, some are like private investigators. Everything shows up... Supposedly anything over 10 years prior isn't held against you with regard to getting a job. You will make it past the school, you will make it to the Board Exam without incident. The places that tend to stop you are private facilities, if you have made it to clinicals then maybe you have overcome that hurdle. I am always skeptical though, pay the money and get it expunged.

[lifelearningrn, BSN, RN]

This might be moot since you were booted from nursing school but I'll replay because I think it's important. There is a good, almost certain, chance the CA BON will see your arrests and convictions, regardless of your research. If by somehow you get reinstated into your nursing school, I suggest you be honest, because you're going to have a much harder time getting APT if (when) the BON looks at your record.

[DaveICURN]

I would caution you to disclose any and all information asked for on the application. We nurses are the most trusted profession in the US. This is due in part by the constant attention to the nursing virtue of Veracity.

Veracity is the principle of truth telling, and it is grounded in respect for persons and the concept of autonomy. In order for a person to make fully rational choices, he or she must have the information relevant to his or her decision.

Instead of deciding whether or not you COULD do it, consider whether or not you SHOULD do it. Ant board of nursing would sure look more favorably on one who reports past mistakes rather than attempting to lie and cover it up.

More leg work? Sure. More headache? Almost certainly. But extolling nursing ethics to prove strong moral fibre? Priceless.

[medsurgRNCali, ASN]

If you were charged as a juveniles fat as I know you don't have to disclose

[Rocknurse, MSN, APRN, NP]

I would caution you to disclose any and all information asked for on the application. We nurses are the most trusted profession in the US. This is due in part by the constant attention to the nursing virtue of Veracity.

Veracity is the principle of truth telling, and it is grounded in respect for persons and the concept of autonomy. In order for a person to make fully rational choices, he or she must have the information relevant to his or her decision.

Instead of deciding whether or not you COULD do it, consider whether or not you SHOULD do it. Ant board of nursing would sure look more favorably on one who reports past mistakes rather than attempting to lie and cover it up.

More leg work? Sure. More headache? Almost certainly. But extolling nursing ethics to prove strong moral fibre? Priceless.

This is all very virtuous, and in a normal circumstance I'd agree with you, but have you seen the way the BON punishes those with a history of substance abuse? It is so harsh as to be draconian. Can you blame him for wanting to conceal if it is legally and practically possible? I don't think there's any harm in seeing what his background check shows, but if it comes back clean it might be not a bad idea to proceed as is he suggesting. I am not condoning concealment in any circumstance, but if the check is clean then it's clean. No need to disclose.

[chocolateocean, BSN]

On 4/23/2018 at 1:53 PM, lifelearningrn said:

This might be moot since you were booted from nursing school but I'll replay because I think it's important. There is a good, almost certain, chance the CA BON will see your arrests and convictions, regardless of your research. If by somehow you get reinstated into your nursing school, I suggest you be honest, because you're going to have a much harder time getting APT if (when) the BON looks at your record.

Update: I graduated from nursing school and selected “no” when asked about my criminal history on the application for licensure. My application was approved/ I cleared the background check. I wasn’t kicked out of nursing school either, just from a clinical rotation. It had essentially the same effect as failing a class, which many of my peers have done because most of the professors are so horrible at teaching and give unfair exams.