NCLEX registration with pending charge

[L7707]

Hi all,

I have a pending charge for a petty larceny misdemeanor that will become a ACD (getting dismissed) in a few months. The problem is.. I need to register for the NCLEX rather soon but am not sure if I should wait to register until the charge is dismissed.
if anyone knows anything about taking the NCELX with pending charges that would be great. Also does anyone know how long the wait is from registering for the NCLEX to actually taking it.
PS (I know what I did was stupid and I will never even thing about doing it again. I made a mistake and hope it doesn’t stop me from becoming a nurse)

Any comments are greatly appreciated

[Orion81RN]

I don't have advice as to what you should do, but I wanted to give you the heads up that even if your charge is dismissed you will probably still have to answer to the BON. It's not really a big deal, but nice to be aware of beforehand. That way you don't have to freak out like I did.

Mine was stupid. I've written about it before. I sold my car then soon after received notice of emissions testing being due. As I no longer owned the car, I dismissed the notice. Fast forward some months, and I got into a minor fender bender. When the police showed up, it turned out my driver's license had been suspended for not getting emissions testing done. (I never received notice in the mail. I lived with my MIL of the same name as me and assume she got the notice and tossed it.) I was arrested. Went to court, got it thrown out. Didn't think about it for years until I applied to take the NCLEX. The BON needed a written statement of what had occurred plus court documents and police report. It was easy to obtain. But I started freaking out not knowing how long the process was going to be to get to take the boards. One person on this site said it took them 6 months when I came here for advice. But it only ended up taking a couple weeks for me.

No big deal, but certainly nice to know ahead of time as I was blind sided by this and panicked at the thought of having to wait months.

That being said, if you end up having to write a letter to the BON be very careful what you write. You admit to us you are guilty, but in the eyes of the law you are innocent if they toss the charge. So its up to you if and how you tell the board you did what you are charged of. But you will probably have to disclose that you were charged, even if its tossed. Good luck.