Littering Ticket

[haysaw87]

Hey guys, now I know my question might be a little ridiculous but I wanted some feedback anyways.

I am currently taking all the prereqs for the ADN program at my local community college and preparing to apply to the program in January of 2015.

I keep hearing all these horror stories about being being denied acceptance or denied to take the NCLEX based on misdemeanor charges in ones past.

I got a littering ticket in 2010 which is a misdemeanor - I never even thought for a second that it could possibly interfere with my nursing goals but now I am curious/worried.

I am a registered CNA and clearly it didn't stop me from doing that. At one point in time during my CNA courses when we were doing our background checks for clinicals I asked my teacher if it could be an issue and she kind of laughed and said no which is why I was under the impression it was a non issue.

Could a littering ticket possibly hamper me becoming a nurse?? Whether it be getting accepted to school or procuring a licence?

Any feedback is greatly appreciated and again I can understand if this question seems ridiculous but I don't want to put in years of hard work to find out it's a problem at the end of the road and I don't want to ask the people at my school about it either, don't want to bring up something negative for fear it will 'taint' my name in some minor way before application time comes around.

[Meriwhen, ASN, BSN, MSN, RN]

IMO, I honestly doubt that a littering ticket will impede your getting licensed. I'm not the BON so don't take my word as gospel...but give that there are people who have committed more serious crimes and are walking around with active nursing licenses, I think the odds are very much in your favor.

You can always drop the BON a note (do it anonymously if you prefer) to see what they have to say, though keep in mind that they may not give you an official answer until you actually apply for licensure.

Also, do double-check to make sure that is is an actual misdemeanor conviction and not an infraction. Infractions don't have to be reported to most BONs.

Good luck.