Can You Be a Nurse with a Felony?
Can You Be a Nurse with a Felony? - Travel Nurse Source Blog

Can You Be a Nurse with a Felony?

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Sometimes we get ourselves into sticky situations that block us from completing our goals. Whether it’s big or small, felonies are a major no-no in the work field. But does that include nursing and travel nursing? In this week’s blog, we’ll be discussing if you can be a nurse with a felony and what to do if you find yourself struggling to find a job.

Can You Be a Nurse with a Felony?

Are you a nurse or interested in becoming one but have committed a felony? You might be facing some obstacles with the State Board of Nursing. Although not all felons and their crimes are the same, it is tricky to find a nursing job, or any job for that matter, that will not care about your past legal history. We first have to discuss the reasons for wanting to be a nurse (or travel nurse) and what kind of felonies are prohibited from any kind of work environment to establish an answer for the question, “Can you be a nurse with a felony?”.

Why Go into Nursing?

There are tons of perks to working in the medical field, especially when you are a nurse. If you enjoy working with children, you have the option to work in the NICU, labor and delivery, or pediatric department. You watch them grow and develop into young adults while also having the privilege of knowing you were a part of their health and development. If you prefer to work with adults, you can work with families or even geriatric nursing. No matter what you choose, there are many benefits to helping others. Other than the instant gratification of helping your patients, nursing jobs have a nice salary, especially if you are a nurse practitioner with certified specialties. The job is also highly flexible! With the right office, you can have as many days off as you want while still making a decent income.

But the two biggest reasons that you should consider when deciding whether or not to become a nurse or a travel nurse are the current nursing shortage and the ability to work as a travel nurse! COVID-19 affected the entire world, and no one expected for so many people to suffer. By becoming a nurse, you will help out not only the medical community, but also your local neighborhood. You will be viewed as a hero by all your patients just by taking care of those around you. If those reasons haven’t convinced you enough to become a nurse, then let’s talk about travel. We all love to discover new places, cultures, and traditions, so why not make it part of your career? TravelNurseSource.com offers the best of the best travel nursing jobs so that you can find work in your dream destination while also bringing in that moolah!

Nurses Under Legality Issues

Now that we know all the benefits that come along with being a nurse, let’s get into the nitty gritty of the felony conversation. Depending on the felony committed, you might be able to work as a nurse but only after completing a few steps. If the felony has anything to do with violence, you are going to have a hard time being accepted into a clinic and an even harder time acquiring that nursing license. The reason being is simple. You will be surrounded and working with children, sick adults, the elderly, pregnant women and your fellow coworkers, so having a violent criminal history is a red flag for hospitals and doctor offices.

However, this does not mean that you can’t get hired. You still can! As long as you have completed your sentence and parole (that is if you had parole as part of your sentence), you can apply to be a nurse five years later. This may seem like a long time, but hey, at least you still have a chance to fulfill your nursing dreams!

Now, if you do not have any violent offenses such as murder, endangerment of a child, assault, or any similar crimes, you will still be investigated. Misconducts regarding deception, fraud, DUI and DWI convictions, and possession of or prescribing illegal substances will also be looked into. Expect a background check and an evaluation of your personal character when you show up for the interview. Upon assessment, the hiring manager and FBI will look to see how long ago the situation happened, how old you were at the time, and see if there is any chance that you would recommit a similar crime or put a patient at risk. If all is clear, you are well on your way to becoming a nurse!

Application Time

What did we learn as kids? To always be honest. Take this advice and be truthful on all of your nursing school applications. We understand that your past doesn’t define you but hiding from it will only make your chances of getting a nursing job decrease. Like we mentioned earlier, they will find out through a simple and typical background check, so it is better to just get it out in the open. Hopefully, by the time you apply, your felony has been expunged, but if it is not, you should also include this in your application. To find this out, you’re going to have to do some research of your own. Our recommendation: wait to apply until the felony has been expunged.

We also recommend that you prove your new lifestyle. Show that you have made changes in your life through volunteering in schools or churches, general community work, or getting recommendation letters from law enforcement and prosecutors! It might not seem like much, but the probability of you landing a nursing job increases with those simple things.

So… Can You?

So, the question remains, “Can you be a nurse with a felony?” The short and general answer, yes. It’s going to take some time and you might receive a few rejections, but it is possible. If this is really what you want to do with your life, don’t give up. You made a change in your life, so why not make a change by helping others? Apply now through TravelNurseSource.com to become a travel nurse today!

Author: Travel Nurse Source

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2 Comments

  1. my name is Rick Mcclellan and i have always liked the medical field,. while in college and working as server for a restaurant i was accepted into nursing school and while in school i was offered a management position and my career in nursing took a back seat, i got a felony for a drug charge. i have always haD THE DESIRE TO RETUTRN TO THE FIELD. IS IT POSSIBLE?

  2. I’ve been having a really hard time finding a job as an RN, because my license was revoked in 2004, due to prescription fraud and I have felonies on my record now. I just got my RN license back in 2021, which was hard to do and cost a lot of money, but no company will hire me. I took a few positions in nursing homes, and I love working as a nurse again, but their work ethics and management, make it hard to do my job without going against everything I’ve learned as a nurse. I’ve been sober for over 10 years, but will any company ever hire me? It almost seems pointless to keep applying everywhere….

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