Background Check? ????

Nurses Criminal

Published

Hi

I take my first nursing class next semester. A background check is required. What do they check for?? I had a dui in 2005? 1st offense and nothing since. Will this affect me?

Specializes in Pediatrics.

I do not have any offenses but all I know I know is if you do not list it...you could possibly be denied. They deny applications all the time for this when Caught that you didn't list it on your app.The nursing board frowns upon new nurses who start their career already caught lying!!

mainly because the hospitals that you will be doing clinicals require it

I'll just chime in with the others. My school requires a background check because they need it for the hospitals we attend clinical at. Also, according to my school it's ok to have a DUI, as long as it was disclosed at application time. If they find out you lied, that's when it becomes a problem.

There were two or three in my cohort with DUI...the school background wasn't an issue, BUT they did take a little longer to get the ATT from BON I believe because of it.

It depends on the circumstances but you should be fine. Was it dismissed, did you complete a diversion program, or did you differ it. If not you can also look into sealing, expunging, or vacating the record if enough time has past.

I got a DUI when I was 19 years old - I was in school, but had not yet applied to the nursing program. I applied, and included in my application a big long statement about what happened and how much I learned from it (it wasn't BS either, I really did learn a lot from it). I got in with no problem, I just had to meet with one of my professors about the few extra steps I will probably have to take to get my license. From everything I've seen, like everyone else has said - as long as you're honest about it, it may slow you down a little but shouldn't stop you. I know that there were a lot of applicants to my program that had higher GPAs and didn't get it. There are a lot of things they pay attention to - just don't try to hide it! Someone who wants to be a nurse should always display VERACITY anyway! I'm 22 now, I'll be graduating in May. I'm hoping that the MSN programs I plan on applying to handle the situation the same way as my undergrad school (University of Tampa).

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