Felony and nursing?

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Hello all, I was wondering if anyone can help me while I wait for the BON to contact me.

I received 2 Felonys in 2013. One for burglary II and one for knowingly concealing stolen property. I received a deferred sentence with one year supervised and 2 years unsupervised probation, my deferment ends in September of 2016 and I can apply for it to be expunged. I know the BON will still see the charges even after it's expunged but will potential employers as well? If they can, what are the chances I'll find employment. Will I even be considered for a license? The regulations weren't very clear to me or the nursing director at the school I plan on attending. She advised me to contact the BON, which I've done, I am just waiting for a call back.

Thank you in advance for all of the replies.

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Generally, if someone has been convicted of a felony or a misdemeanor they may not be allowed to take the RN licensing exam. The question of eligibility to take the RN licensing exam will be determined when the application for license is received by the State Board of Nursing. A background check will be done & if any criminal hx developed, it will normally exclude you from most jobs in the medical field. If the Felony and misdemeanor charges are expunged then it makes it a bit easier as they won't show up on some background checks, but still must be disclosed, particularly for government hospitals and the State Board. It is rare that they grant a license, but normally if they do the convictions were 5-10 years ago.

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Mine will be 5 years old at the time I would apply for licensing...maybe there is hope. Thank you for your reply and honesty. Maybe I will start looking into other career options though.

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I don't want to be discouraging! Honestly, I would just wait and see what the BON says.

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I will remain optimistic until I hear from them. :yes:

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Thorn94,

I understand how frustrated you must feel at your situation. I received two separate misdemeanors a year apart in 2012 and 2013 and felt the exact same way. I was unable to expunge either prior to applying for nursing school and disclosed both to both my state's board and my school with a detailed explanation of what I had learned from the experience. I have since graduated from said school, passed my NCLEX as of yesterday and will be working on the unit of my dreams starting in July!

If nursing is truly what you want to do, it doesn't hurt to at least try. Both of my charges were expunged by the time I applied to my hospital so I did not disclose them on my background check for them. A lot of what you see online is the absolute worst case scenario, but nursing boards absolutely take into account how long ago the charge was, whether it was a patterned offense, etc. Good luck to you!

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With a misdemeanor you can but with a felony that's a different ball game. Not sure about that I would wait to speak with Bon.

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Thank you! You have given me more of a reason to be optimistic. I am 3 classes from an associates in allied health but after changing my major for the 3rd time I feel 100% that nursing is what I want to do with my life. It was always an option, but I told myself I wouldn't want the responsibility of someone's life in my hands...it wasn't until recently that I realized I was putting off the inevitable of becoming a nurse because I was actually too chicken of failing out. Now it's a waiting game...

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Specializes in Nephrology, Cardiology, ER, ICU.

Moved to Licensure with criminal history

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Specializes in Educator.

Your best source of information will be the BON. You will also have to consider future employees having access to your record. This is a non-issue if it's expunged but until them clinical placements may be very difficult with a two felonies on your record. Wait to hear from the board and I wish you the best.

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Specializes in Utilization Management.

What state are you in? That potentially makes a difference.

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Specializes in Geriatrics, Dialysis.

Don't be surprised if the BON is less than helpful at this point. Of course every state is different but what I have heard is the norm in licensing issues is the BON assesses each case individually. Unfortunately they don't address each case until you actually apply for licensing. This means completing school first. Only then can you get the OK to take take the NCLEX and only after passing the NCLEX will you be applying for a license. That is potentially a lot of time, money and effort spent to find out that you can't get a license to practice.

I don't want to sound too negative, but felony charges will be difficult to overcome. Even if you are granted a license you will then need to find employment and that is going to be difficult with felonies on your record.

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