Do you have criminal record and now you are a nurse?

[tabibuwako1]

Hello All good people,

Do you have any criminal record and now you are a nurse with a job? Would you please share your story and procedure you had to take to become a successful nurse you are today?What was your record? Was it felony or misdemineour? how long did it took between your crime and starting nursing school? What state are you in?

Thank you hope I can hear stories which may give hope to other wannabe nurses with criminal record.

[NRSKarenRN, BSN, RN]

Please read the threads in allnurses Nursing Licensure With A Criminal History as extensive info posted by our members here.

[Meriwhen, ASN, BSN, MSN, RN]

Check out this forum: you'll find quite a few success stories. You unfortunately will also find quite a few unsuccess stories.

To be honest, whether YOU will be able to get licensed and have a successful nursing career depends on a lot of factors: your specific criminal record, your BON, your local nursing schools and employers' policies on applicants with a criminal history...no one can say if you definitely will or won't be able to work as a nurse.

As a nurse (or nurse wannabe) with a criminal record, you will have three hurdles to cross:

1. You need to get a nursing school to accept you with your criminal record. This includes their being able to place you at clinical sites. This is really two hurdles in one: clinical sites may have different criteria regarding criminal records than the nursing school has, and it's possible that a nursing school will accept you but a clinical site will not yet you perform clinicals there. In that case, you'd have to hope that the nursing school could place you in an alternate site...if they can't, you are SOL.

2. The BON has to be willing to license you. Just because a school accepted your clinical record doesn't mean that the BON automatically has to. BONs have their own criteria regarding licensure. There are nurses who have endured 4+ years of nursing school just to have the BON slam the door in their face by refusing to license them. The problem here is that BONs do not give a decision about whether you will be licensed until you actually apply for the license. You can always try contacting the BON to see what they have to say, but don't be surprised if they don't give you a definite answer.

Also keep in mind that each BON acts independently of the others: just because Arizona's BON gave your a license doesn't mean that California's BRN automatically has to. CA's BRN has the right to review your application and decide for themselves.

3. An employer has to be willing to hire you. Again, just because the BON granted you a license doesn't mean an employer has to give you the job. Employers have their own criteria about criminal records and are free to make their own decisions.

Best of luck.

[twinsmom788]

Please review the above poster's comments. I was on the BON for a unnamed state and will say that the advice given is exactly correct.

1) you want to go to nursing school.

2) you have a criminal record

3)the school MAY accept you

4)you MAY have trouble obtaining permission to practice in certain clinical sites

5)you take the NCLEX if you pass the criminal background check this is an FBI check and is intensive

6)you pass and are licensed

7)you apply for a job and tell them the truth about your past

8)they do a background check on you

9) you pass and you are offered a job or not

10) Reality check HOPE YOU PASS!