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Specializes in Agency, ortho, tele, med surg, icu, er.

I am a convicted felon in massachusetts. I was arrested with possesion of marijuana with intent to distribute. I was 19 and thats that. Went to school after and got a 3.89 gpa associates in liberal arts and then went on and got an associates in nursing.

After finishing school I applied for the boards and was denied because of this felony charge. After about 4 months I got all my papers together, references from probation officer, and even tracked down the district attorny I applied again and was good to go.

I have always been straight up on every job interview Ive ever had about this issue. I think I might not of gotten one job because of it, a hospital in newton wellsley.

IVe been a nurse for over 5 years and my advice to anyone who has a felony or past convictions is to be very up front about this issue.

Anyway good luck.

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Congratulations to you Mike. I hope that eventually I will obtain my license.

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Specializes in Agency, ortho, tele, med surg, icu, er.

Gluck. Just apply and send letters of recomendations from teachers, from people involved with your case. dont ever give up.

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I truly do not understand what the holdup is. EVERYONE in my class has already received their license including one person who had a lot worse charges than I did (mine was a DUI 26 years ago when I was 18 and nothing on my record since then). Every time I call the nursing board it is the same spiel.. I will have to be patient.. it is being reviewed blah blah blah. Basically it is like one hand doesn't know what the other one is doing. I have tried really hard to be patient, but I must confess it is really wearing thin. I had planned on continuing my education and pursuing my RN also, but not sure I want to go through all this again. I worked for the USPS as a mail carrier for three years and didn't have to go through this type of hassle:(

Have a great day!

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Specializes in Telemetry.

Hey Mike, Thanks for your story I needed to hear. I have been a nurse over 15 years and recently I committed a misdemeanor. I was working at a facility where I got paid for days not worked, it was a common practice and during an independent audit this came to light and i was charged with theft. The board reviewed my case and thank god, they didnt revoke my license but they did place it on probation without restrictions. Tomorrow I have my first interview. My question is when and how do I bring up this past indiscretion?

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Specializes in Agency, ortho, tele, med surg, icu, er.

Always. Be very upfront about it. I think honesty in these cases is a lot better then them finding out about it with a cori check. I have found that managers respect that and so does human resource.

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have u read the rainmaker by j. grisham? quite same story as yours...

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Specializes in Clinicals.

Thank you so much for sharing your story Mike...it gives me hope :specs:

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