I have been in nursing school and will soon graduate, maybe. Over the summer vacation I was convicted of a misdemeanor, lowest degree. I am so in a state of anxiety now about what to do and wheter or not to tell the school. I am scared if I tell the Dean, she will have me expelled from the school and I will not graduate. If I choose to not tell, they will realize it in the end when I go to submit my liscensure application. I will have to check the box saying I have been convicted of a crime. If I do that they will wonder why I did not confront them earlier. What the heck to I do???
I am currenty doing community service and will be on probation for 6 mos.
I cannot seem to get any straight answers from BON. Each case is individual.
Make an appointment with your Dean, take time to review what you need to say, then just inform the Dean of this incident. I bet the Dean will be fair and discreet. Good luck and remember, a little prayer never hurts.
Do you think because it was so recent that my Dean will try and expell me from the program? Also, will the BON not let me sit for boards because it was so recent? I have read that that is a factor in their decision.
Specializes in med/surg, telemetry, IV therapy, mgmt.
most boards of nursing make a distinction between convictions for felonies and convictions for misdemeanors. traffic tickets are misdemeanors, but my state board specifically asks if we've ever been convicted of a misdemeanor other than traffic tickets.
it depends what your misdemeanor was. if it involves drugs, alcohol or something violent against another person, such as a battery they are going to want details. hope you saved all your paperwork from the court and any paperwork you got if you were put on probabion. you'll want to keep that forever along with your birth certificate, marriage certificate and social security card. you are going to have to hold your breath and wait on their decision. if the misdemeanor was picking through other people's trash out on the tree lawns looking for usable stuff it probably won't mean anything.
best thing is not to lie to the board of nursing. you'll be in worse trouble if they catch you in a lie. suck up your fear and tell your dean. you are already in violation of the school nursing program rules. it's better if she hears it from you rather than reads about it on your test application for the board of nursing. do the right thing so you can stop all this anxiety you're having. you made your bed. . .time to finish taking the responsiblity for whatever you did. also, realize that this issue is going to come up periodically over your lifetime as many employers have taken to doing criminal background checks on potential employees and you will most likely find yourself in the position of having to explain the circumstances of this misdemeanor in the future. you, especially, can now appreciate the hipaa regulations on confidentiality.
(if you get bounced out of nursing, consider health information management. you already have the pre-reqs for it and would only need to add some courses. registration and certification are voluntary and not controlled by any state boards. the certifying bodies don't ask about misdemeanors or felonies. salary is excellent and potential for career advancement is excellent since it's all about computer data and medical records. rhits (registered health information technogolists) have some really interesting jobs throughout healthcare facilities. any education you have is never wasted.)
peechy79
8 Posts
Do you think because it was so recent that my Dean will try and expell me from the program? Also, will the BON not let me sit for boards because it was so recent? I have read that that is a factor in their decision.
Thanks