Someone very close to me would like to get into nursing or possibly become a respiratory therapist. We’re trying to find out the laws regarding employment in those fields. We live in Nebraska and it wasn’t a violent crime.
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I would think that the answer depends upon who’s doing the hiring.
Background checks are different for diferent companies. Some companies and hospitals only want felony convictions for the last 5 years. Others want whatever’s on court record.
The Fair Credit Reporting Act guidelines for most states, including Nebraska, are 7 years reportable convictions and non-convictions from the disposition date — and convictions older than 7 years may be reported (but not non-convictions).
I hope this helps. Having a felony record is a challenge, but not a permament impediment to being hired.
Most likely your friend will have to petition the board of nursing to be allowed to sit for nursing boards (the tests we take to gain licensure). Contact Nebraska’s state board of nursing and explain the nature of the felony to them and ask what you would need to do to be allowed to sit for boards. Also, admission into nursing schools is competitive, so contact whatever nursing school that you may be looking at, and explain to them the nature of the felony before you apply. Every state is different, but I know nurses in several states that have been convicted of felonies (they can’t be crimes against the elderly or children…there’s a national register that will block you from becoming licensed) As long as it isn’t something drug related (they look at that really tough since we handle narcotics so much) there shouldn’t be much of a problem. It also may be possible to have your friend’s record expunged so that the charges will not reflect on them, but contact a lawyer for more info on that (a girl in my nursing class had this done, but I don’t know any details)..
I would assume that becoming a licensed RT would be about the same.
http://www.hhs.state.ne.us/crl/nursing/Rn-Lpn/rn-lpn.htm <<
Presently 11 States require criminal background checks to get nursing licensure and 65% of schools conduct these checks before admittance. I found the following information.
ALONG WITH CONCERNS ABOUT TERRORISM, American institutions are increasingly focused on public safety and protection. In health care, the intense value placed on safety is manifest in recent literature published by the Institute of Medicine and the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Care Organizations (JCAHO) (1 ,2 ). To protect the public, many state boards of nursing (SBON) now require criminal background checks before granting a nursing license, and those that do not require a full background check do require self-disclosure of any criminal background (3) . In addition, regulatory and accrediting agencies have begun to request background checks for people who deliver care to clients (4) .
Background checks of criminal history are designed to protect the public from individuals who may have a criminal history and may be apt to repeat a crime. There are various types including city, county, state, and federal background checks. Some are obtained from the police or sheriff; some through a federal agency such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and some through companies specializing in background checks. In addition, institutions and individuals may obtain authority to perform background checks independently online.
A criminal self-disclosure may be required instead of or in addition to a background check. A disclosure is a signed statement by an individual indicating if she or he has ever been arrested and/or convicted of a crime. If an individual has a criminal history, more details regarding the arrest or conviction can be obtained or a background check may be required. Some institutions require disclosures as part of the background check process and look for congruency between self-disclosure and the results of the background check.
(Nursing Education Perspectives Vol. 27, No. 3, pp. 148–153).
The best way to find out would be to speak to a college recruiter in any nursing college.
I’m in Texas and as far as I know background checks can only go back (approx) 10 years if it was a felony. If it was a misdemeanor it shouldn’t be a problem.