Getting into Nursing school with a misdemeanor

Nurses Criminal

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Hi everyone,

I have a few questions (obviously right? lol) I wanted to know if it's hard to get into a nursing program in socal with a misdemeanor? I got one 14 years ago and while I let it stop me after high school from getting into the nursing program 14 years and a baby later, I think I'm ready to give this a shot. I was still in high school when this occurred I had just turned 18 actually so it affected me even though I wasn't the one who committed the crime. I was charged for petty theft after my friend (and I use that term loosely) decided to shoplift at the mall:no: I did my community service hours at a hospital and of course got rid of that "friend' and since graduating high school, I have been working in a hospital environment always wanting to be a nurse like my grandma. So now my questions are do I even stand a chance into getting in? Does anyone know how far the background checks are for school? and will I even stand a chance to be able to take my NCLEX? or should I just give up for good?

Thanks in advance everyone all help is welcomed!

Specializes in ICU.
Wait I have a couple speeding tickets I never thought they would be issues.

I get there are levels to misdemeanors, but I didn't think minor crimes like speeding tickets, or parking tickets were an issue if paid.

Speeding tickets are not misdemeanors. They are traffic offenses. Unless you did something crazy with your speeding. In some states, going a certain amount of mph over the posted limit can cause a small issue.

Why do you think a traffic ticket is a misdemeanor?

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Specializes in Occupational Health; Adult ICU.

Get the record sealed/expunged, see: Cleaning Your Record - criminal_selfhelp

Beware of "it will disappear after x years."

Not too many years ago, I had been working as RN for 7 years, I was thoroughly confused. I had great interview after great interview, even to the point of: "this will be your office." And then.......dead air. This happened many times.

One day, on the way to the beach I was heading close to where our state CORI division and just to make sure I stopped and pulled my own CORI and much to my surprise: Misdemeanor.

Now get this, 7 years earlier I had pulled my own CORI and it had nothing on it.

It was over 30 years old and it was not a misdemeanor, it was a violation with a whopping $50 fine. I went to the Courthouse and was told: "We have no idea where it came fromwe have no record on file." I jumped through some hoops and wrote to a person at the CORI office for my state who agreed--it was not a misdemeanor and she changed the listing. I also did what was necessary to completely remove it which included paying $250 ($150 to the Court, and $100 to the CORI bureau). Next interview I got my job.

As long as the misdemeanor was not one of trust or abuse or violence, it should be easy to remove. Remove it. Then when applying for a job or college, put "no record," but for NCLEX or BON, Police or Military job write and explain. It should not be problem.

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They aren't unless their is an unreasonable amount of unpaid tickets which shows lack of responsibility and arrogance to the board.

Whether those tickets are paid or not is irrelevant. They wouldn't be worthy of a second look.

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So I was arrested for shoplifting also although I was never charged. I'm not sure that this is helpful but I never had any issues with getting into school or with clinicals. I did have an issue after passing my NCLEX with getting my physical license. I had to rebuttal a letter and go get expunged but after all of that work, everything worked out. Like I said though I was not charged, simply arrested. Good luck!

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Speeding tickets are not misdemeanors. They are traffic offenses. Unless you did something crazy with your speeding. In some states, going a certain amount of mph over the posted limit can cause a small issue.

Why do you think a traffic ticket is a misdemeanor?

I don't know I was under the impression breaking the law, which speeding is, was classified into two overarching categories. Misdemeanors, and felonies. With subcategories in both offenses.

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Specializes in ICU.
I don't know I was under the impression breaking the law, which speeding is, was classified into two overarching categories. Misdemeanors, and felonies. With subcategories in both offenses.

No. Traffic tickets are simply considered traffic offenses. They are not crimes. You are not arrested. There are also certain laws that can be broken in which somebody would just get a citation for that is not a misdemeanor or felony. Many times on college campuses officers issue citations for underage drinking or public intoxication. Sometimes even marijuana usage is just a citation. No arrest, no charge. You simply pay a fine just like traffic ticket.

I imagine there would be very few nurses out there if traffic tickets were considered misdemeanors. Misdemeanors depending on what they are can keep you out of nursing school and sitting for NCLEX in certain states.

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No. Traffic tickets are simply considered traffic offenses. They are not crimes. You are not arrested. There are also certain laws that can be broken in which somebody would just get a citation for that is not a misdemeanor or felony. Many times on college campuses officers issue citations for underage drinking or public intoxication. Sometimes even marijuana usage is just a citation. No arrest, no charge. You simply pay a fine just like traffic ticket.

I imagine there would be very few nurses out there if traffic tickets were considered misdemeanors. Misdemeanors depending on what they are can keep you out of nursing school and sitting for NCLEX in certain states.

My apologies I hope I have not hijacked the ops thread with an erroneous question.

As it is once upon a time I committed certain non violent misdemeanors as a teenager for which I was fortunate never to be arrested for before I stopped that behavior.

So good luck op, and I do not have a saintly past. I think I was just fortunate at the time.

For the rest I plead the fifth.

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I am so glad for you that it didn't show up. My school does a 7 years check too and I was worried that my misdemeanor simple assault would show up it was over 7 years

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On 7/8/2016 at 7:01 PM, abouttimeRN said:

So I was arrested for shoplifting also although I was never charged. I'm not sure that this is helpful but I never had any issues with getting into school or with clinicals. I did have an issue after passing my NCLEX with getting my physical license. I had to rebuttal a letter and go get expunged but after all of that work, everything worked out. Like I said though I was not charged, simply arrested. Good luck!

Hey can you email me more about your conviction my email is [email protected]

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