criminal background? have i wasted my time? please help. Anybody know knows?

Nurses Criminal

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Hi, I'm a 22 year old female who goes to a community college in Texas. I have been going to school since I was 19 (well for nursing). Its taken me a while just to get all my basics done and prereqs but I will finally be able to apply to nursing school next semester 2015. My husband keeps telling me that I need to make sure that I'm not waisting my time with school but I've always blown him off because I don't want to accept the fact that I might have wasted my time. 5 years ago when I was 17 years old, June 2009 my family was having a get together in celebration of me going to join the army. There was alcohol involved and let me just say things got out of hand. My brother got into an altercation with my moms "then boyfriend". And I got in the middle trying to stop the fight. I tried grabbing my moms boyfriend off my brother because my brothers arm had dislocated out of place. His arm tended to dislocate easily due to football injuries in highschool. He was supposed to have surgery but never did. Anyways my moms boyfriend called the cops. When they got there, my mom and her boyfriend, clearly intoxicated were talking to the cops. They didn't even give me a chance to talk before they put me in handcuffs and arrested me. I was so upset, I was screaming and telling them to take the handcuffs off of me. I was telling my mom to tell them what happened. I went to jail and they charged me with assault on a family member (moms boyfriend), terroristic threat(supposedly my moms boyfriend told them I threatened to harm him), resisting arrest. The next day after I talked to my mom (she was sober) and she apologized. She told me that she had called the DA and told them she wanted to drop those charges. They told her there was nothing they could do since the state had already picked them up. She bailed me out and when my court date came around, they dismissed the assault, and terroristic threat but left the resisting arrest charge on me. From what I have heard all of those charges will appear in a background check no matter what. At this point, Im just devastated. I have put sweat, blood and tears into my studying. School has became my life. Does anybody know the steps in what I can do? to get my name cleared? or what? I have heard of expunging the charges but, I've also heard they can still access that too? so whats the point? Im so confused. Meanwhile, my brother didn't get no charges. He ended up going to the hospital for his dislocated shoulder and they released him right after instead of taking him to jail! seriously! BTW they were all misdemeanors, not sure what Class(A,B,C) though. Please help, anybody who has knowledge in criminal backgrounds in the nursing field. Sorry so long! Thanx for reading. Oh and no, I haven't been in any kind of trouble since that day, because I'm a good girl. I don't break the laws. Unfortunately June 2009, according to bell county I did. :( Other than that my record is clean.

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Specializes in NICU.

You were 17 at the time and a minor. I am not sure if your juvenile record would show up on a criminal background check. If your school of nursing requires a background check, then get one from the place they require and see if there is anything on it.

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Specializes in Emergency Department.

Since you were 17 at the time, you may be able to petition the court to have your juvenile record sealed. This may or may not require the services of a lawyer. Also, it depends upon whether or not you were convicted of any charges as to the end results as well, and if you were charged as a minor or as an adult. I would highly suggest that before too long, you get official copies of any court records, minute orders, and the like regarding the exact disposition of all your arrests, charges, convictions, and the like. Should your records be sealed, you may not need that info, but if the records can't be sealed or are "visible" even if sealed, then you'll need that info so that you can provide it to any agency or entity that requires the disposition information. This is very important because your charges possibly involve a family member...

Anything beyond the above, you'll need a lawyer for specific advice for your specific situation. I don't know if this will adversely impact your future career plans, regardless of career field.

Good luck!

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OP, I wouldn't sweat it too much. I believe the purpose of the background check is to snake out sex offenders and substance abusers. Worst case scenario is you must be honest, and they don't let you in school. You will never know, though, if you don't try. Keep your explanation short and sweet (this is a very dramatic recount and sounds childish, if I may say so; try something like: "Stepped in to diffuse altercation between family members, and it didn't end up going so well for me. Official charge filed was 'Resisted arrest,' and I am currently making efforts to have the charge expunged. Lesson learned."). Just state the facts. This is nothing, please don't lose sleep on it. You can start worrying if you get a DUI..... even then, you could probably move forward with the right interventions. Good luck!

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Check with the nursing department and see what the list of offenses that can be a problem. Go onto the nursing department's page on your school website, they should have a handbook on there (at least ours does!), and it has the offense form within the handbook. The list for our school is long! Not only the obvious (murder, rape, abuse of elderly, theft...) but also things like passing bad checks, etc. So take a look. If there's any question, go to someone in the nursing dept and ask! One of our clinical sites is very, very stringent with this; their list includes more offenses than any other sites. Good luck!

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Specializes in NICU, Trauma, Oncology.

You should be able to google the state board of nursing licensure requirements regarding criminal history. Also the school should have someone that deals specifically with those issues.

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I would get copies of my charges resolution of my case etc and go talk to your state board of nursing. They will let you know. Your school may also counsel you on it but I found the most relief by talking to the board.

I have a dwi and a misdemeanor hot check from 20 years ago and have since been licensed as an APN and given authority to write prescriptions.

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Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.
OP, I wouldn't sweat it too much. I believe the purpose of the background check is to snake out sex offenders and substance abusers.
This is NOT true. The BON gets full criminal history checks and will put nurses with DUI offenses on probation license and make the attend their states recovery program.

OP..you need to speak with a lawyer and have your records sealed/expunged. ALL states will ask "Have you ever been arrested?" and "Have you ever been convicted of a crime?"

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A friend of mine is going through something very similar right now while trying to get into our nursing program. He declared the incident up front (in the interest of full disclosure) and appealed to the Texas BoN.

Because of the time they take to investigate the matter, it's better to do so as soon as you apply. He will be joining the next cohort as he just received his blue card (approval from the BoN) to move forward.

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Specializes in retired LTC.

Esme12 has given you wise advice. I am NO expert (in any way, shape or form) but from what I have read here on AN, you will face reviews from your school of nursing for your entry (and possibly their contracted clinical sites may want a cleared record), the BON will review your record, and prospective employers will ask about any record, too. So there's 4 or more potential roadblocks.

As discussed, you need to contact a lawyer as soon as possible and the sooner the better. You need an "ALL CLEAR".

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