Nursing School With A Misdemeanor

[Chevy_girl]

I've seen many threads on here about getting a nursing license with a criminal background hanging over your head. I haven't gotten that far as being licensed, but I did get accepted into nursing school, and it's something I've worked hard for. I would like to share my story with those who may be freaking out. Just like I was.

I received my acceptance in November to start nursing school in the spring semester. Of course I did my research, and I knew there was a background check involved. I'm 25 now, but when I was 21 I was pulled over. I got a ticket for driving on a suspended license. To make a long story short, I was living by myself. I moved back home and two months in, my stepdad died. My first offense was over an inspection sticker, my car was legal in every sense, but I hadn't gotten my car inspected in my home state yet. It wasn't expired, it was simply because it said Texas and not Virginia. Cut to a couple months later, I never paid the ticket. It was an honest mistake, and so they suspended my drivers license. After my stepdad died I felt an emptiness inside myself. I lost sense of who I was. I was struggling to pay my rent, my bills, and on top of it all pay for his cremation. I just didn't care about anything anymore because well, when you lose hope and that little spark is dying inside, you feel like it'll never become a roaring flame again. I was becoming stagnant. It could be the most beautiful day outside, but from my perspective it was just another day with something coming at me unexpectedly.

Skip ahead four years and I got accepted into the nursing program. I was happy, but since I knew I had a Class A misdemeanor of driving on suspended on my record, I panicked. I did my background check and when I got my results, I was crushed. The offense showed up, and I cried and thought the worst. I thought I did all this work and got straight A's only for a door to be slammed in my face because I had a misdemeanor.

I even started to question whether or not I was cut out for it. It wasn't just a background issue, but a self confidence issue as well. I saw girls who drove brand new cars, with brand new clothes. Me? I was driving my dad's Suburban to school every day, complete with chipping paint and guzzling gas. I felt really out of place. I come from a humble background, and I started to think maybe it wasn't meant for me because I wasn't driving a brand new car, the clothes I had I bought with my financial aid. My hair wasn't styled and I didn't wear makeup or perfume. I wasn't a size 2 and wasn't fashionable. I'm a jeans and t-shirt, tomboy kind of girl for goodness sakes.

Well, that's not the case. Not for my school or for the places I will be doing clinicals. There are two major health groups in my area that own just about every hospital and clinic within the state. If they denied me, I couldn't go anywhere else because they own everything else around. I couldn't call the board of nursing for my state, which I was told so much that it got really, really annoying to hear. The board of nursing doesn't make the decision in terms of you going to nursing school, the clinical sites do. The BON is what allows you to sit for the NCLEX, and to have and maintain your nursing licensure. It was a tense, overwhelming, nail biting three weeks. The results of the check did not go to the school, they were only notified that there was a discrepancy on my record. So, I had to email the two clinical sites. It took them the very same day to clear me. What were the clinical sites looking for? I'm not sure. I'm assuming the clinical sites in my case look for felonies, assaults, any signs of violence or harm.

My point is, I was told a LOT that I more or less was not cut out for this because I had a "record". I allowed people to stress me out and cut me down. I was told by several nurses that the school would withdraw their offer for me in their nursing program. None of it was true. Do not allow yourself to panic, or feel that you're not cut out for something just because someone else can't share your happiness, or because you're not as squeaky clean as someone else. I'll start in January, and I can't say what my journey with licensing will be like, but I did want to share my story.

[ANGJO4567]

I agree. I decided to go back to nursing after becoming worn out as a surgical tech. I worked 40+ hours a week, including every weekend, all the while watching my classmates post pictures of themselves at the beach and doing stuff in their "free time". My car held it together by the grace of God, and I paid for every cent of my tuition & nursing school cost from my own pockets because as a surgical tech I "made too much" to qualify for any help. At the age of 19 I did a stupid thing and ended up with a misdemeanor. It had no effect on my nursing school career or my surgical tech career either. Go for your dreams. I graduated with my BSN and never looked back. Even though it was hard I would do it all over again!

[Chevy_girl]

Thank you for your story, it really helped boost my morale and relieve some stress. I'll be getting a car of my own and as long as it lasts me through nursing school I'll do great. Cheers!