Felons and Nursing in VA

[dr3amline]

Okay alot of questions have arose about being a felon and nursing. I am a felon. I was convicted of manufacture and delivery of a controlled substance 20 years ago. I applied to a school in VA after speaking to the VA BON. I told the school about my felony from day one. They allowed me into the LPN program. I put in 7 months of very hard book and lab work to find out when clinical rotation arrived i was not on the list. The school said that with my felony i was not allowed into any of the clinical sites. I was devastated. I had told them that i spoke to the BON and they said that i was able to get my nursing license in the state of VA and that my crime was not a barrier crime but that didnt seem to matter to them. My federal loans were charged $17,000 and the school dismissed me from the program. I ended up having to get a lawyer and sue them to get my money back. In my opinion if you have a felony on your record good luck in finding a school that will allow you into a nursing program, and good luck having a real life because it will probably not happen. This stigma on my record has ruined my life. I had to settle for a menial job because I am not allowed to better myself because I made that mistake 20 years ago. In fact good luck in finding any job with a felony on your record. The laws in this country need to be changed to allow felons who have nothing else on their records to have the felony expunged without having to pay ridiculous amounts of money and tons of paperwork. BTW i have checked the BON of Nevada, Wisconsin, and Virginia and all say that selling drugs is not a barrier crime.

[VivaLasViejas, ASN, RN]

I, too, live under a chronic stigma (mental illness) that I never asked for and didn't do anything to earn. Where's my clean slate?

FWIW, I don't believe that all ex-felons deserve permanent banishment from society, or being denied opportunities to redeem themselves. A lot depends on what the crime was, how old the person was at the time s/he committed it, and what s/he has done in the interim to change the behaviors that led to it. I don't think the OP is a bad person. But as I said before, there ARE many ways to be useful and productive, and I wish the OP the best in pursuing her goals.

[VaLPN-HL]

The secret to getting into a nursing school that will allow you to complete clinicals with a felony is to find a small school (usually a community college), in a very small town, and a small hospital near by. Speak with the Director of the program and tell him/her about your situation, be sincere, humble, and make sure they understand that you are a different person now.

Trust me when I tell you that no one at the BON who answers the phones has a clue about your situation or what the BON will or will not allow. When you do apply for your boards be honest in your statement letter to the board. Wholeheartedly take ownership of your previous actions, tell them what you learned from the experience and how you've managed to live an upstanding life for the past 20 years.

Warning - It still won't be easy

After you pass your boards you still have to get a job and that's where the real problem begins. There are different laws for different fields. Working with the elderly and small children do require squeaky clean backgrounds. But just because a employer won't hire you, doesn't mean that you cannot hire yourself.

Nursing is such a wonderful field in that there are so many different capacities that one can work in. Staff nursing, school nursing, home heath, education, hospice, private duty... the list goes on and on. Starting your own company is always a great option.

If you really want to be a nurse for all of the right reasons and you are ready to take on the long and rough road to get there, I encourage you to continue to knock on doors and make phone calls, there are people out there who would be happy to help you. GL

[Lisabrnc]

To dr3amline,

I have hung around this site often and never felt the need to join or post anything prior to reading your blog. My heart goes out to you! I am compelled by your honesty to join this site and hopefully share some information with you! Whether it was yesterday or twenty years ago poor decisions can be made by anyone given the right set of circumstances. Having said that there is a way into clinical rotations and successfully sitting for the NCLEX then INTO practice. The answer is 'don't give up' if this is truly your calling.

I realize that you are not an addict or have a drug problem at this time. However, because of your felony the BON could give you information on how you would get referred to an alternative-to-discipline program and enter into a three-to-five-year monitoring contract (or less based on the number of years that you have stayed out of trouble), which says in lieu of doing clinical rotations in the school of your choice, you will do 'x, y and z'. This is a monitoring program for healthcare professionals to ensure the safety of the public that we serve. You want to be a nurse. This program is for you.

I did not see anything in VA. I figured this might be closest to you in order to continue on your journey into healthcare. This site is for you WV Restore West Virginia Restore (WV Restore) is a monitoring and recovery program for nurses, in order to assure patient safety while the nurse is healing. As the name expresses, the goal is to help restore a nurse to a state of wellness. This is a non-disciplinary, confidential program provided the participant complies with the contract requirements. If you believe this program will be helpful to you or to someone you know please contact WV Restore at the phone number or email below.

Phone: [phone] Email: [email protected]

Documents

I hope you are still around this website and get this message. If you aren't I hope a monitor person will be able to forward it to you.

God Bless!

[cosmic511]

I think the LAWS DO NEED TO BE CHANGED FOR EACH CASE! I was convicted of attempted possession of a controlled substance by fraud; in which I never had the Drug in Possession in my hands. Due to my inadequate knowledge of the law and fear of the law and PRIDE in myself and avoiding the Public ; (my ignorance of the judicial system) I plead no contest and took a 5 year deferred adjudication probation charge. My attorney told me if I didn't the DEA would have the police at my house with guns drawn ! I had never been arrested in my life! I was 35 years old; all I had done was walked into a pharmacy for a friend to pick her prescription up and it wasn't ready so left; 6 weeks later 2 DEA agents were knocking at my door questioning me about the visit to that pharmacy. But yet I had never picked up anything, one agent frightened me so bad I said I needed to speak to an attorney so that's when I received the poor4 advice about the guns surrounding my home! I had served 4 years and was only 9 months from completing the deferred sentence until I had a traffic accident whwere a police officer charged me with a DWI! I wanted to take it to trial, because no drugs or alcohol were found in my system and the TXPS dismissed my charge; but the county where I was on probation picked it up and for 7 months continued to make me meet monthly with my probation officer doing drug screens ect. Then came a court date; and without notice I found out they decided decided to REVOKE my probation! I was a 37 year old female married, stable. Had recently found employment, and had a 3 year old son. The state revoked me into a Felon after that. My husband works. I have decided to devote my time to raise my son these past years. He is now 16; but in my opinion movie stars, athletes, ect. get away with a lot worse than we Nurse do! I believe in a God of second chances; I only wish PEOPLE DID! LAWS DO NEED TO BE CHANGED; some have for marijuana; and that's worse when a person is actually having it in their possession!