Contingent job Offer based on criminal record- Nurse (Post: employment, law)

[newnurse13]

Originally Posted by ChristieP

Theft is a tough one. In order to get deferred adjudication, you had to plead no contest, which is essentially guilty. It depends on the facility where you are going to work, but at the nursing home where I used to work as HR Director, or at the hospital where I work now, you would not be hired with that on your record.

Thank you everyone for replying to my post. Christie do you know anything about Parkland hospital? That's where I had the job offer at. I know they've hired someone with a DUI but its definitely not the same as theft.

And would any hospital hire me? I've worked so hard to get my BSN and bc of this foolish mistake I made when I was 17 years old its now haunting me.

[newnurse13]

Originally Posted by SloopJohnZ

I agree with this. It seems to me like if they were aware you had a misdemeanor from the application and still gave you an interview and said they liked you, they should have already taken that into consideration. The background check might be just to see what it was and make sure there are not any other misdemeanors or felonies you did not disclose. The State Board of Nursing seems like it would have been the bigger hurdle as far as obtaining your license.

I've researched this before for an ex that had a DWI. There are a number of nurses licensed and working with misdemeanors (and even felonies). So while I'm sure if you were up for one job against another candidate with a spotless record, you'd probably be up a creek. It's not an automatic disqualifier, though.

http://www.bon.texas.gov/disciplinar...c-analysis.pdf

SloopJohn, thats what my husband keeps telling me. Since I marked yes on the application and it occurred 9 years ago, then everything should be okay.

But I've researched on allnurses how easy it is to get your license but hard it is to get a job with theft on my record. I would also think the same way as the board of nursing being the biggest hurdle for me to get through, but in my case it wasn't. It seems like the job is. This was my only interview I had. I marked yes on all of the apps for THR, Baylor and Methodist and not one of them called me in for an interview. So it gave me hope when Parkland did.

[hellpaso]

A few words of advice. First of all, if you are going to work at Parkland, don't worry about a misdemeanor years ago. Really. And that's all I will say about that. Really.

[newnurse13]

Originally Posted by hellpaso

A few words of advice. First of all, if you are going to work at Parkland, don't worry about a misdemeanor years ago. Really. And that's all I will say about that. Really.

Hellpaso haha thank you. I'll try my best not to worry!

[ChristieP]

Originally Posted by newnurse13

Thank you everyone for replying to my post. Christie do you know anything about Parkland hospital? That's where I had the job offer at. I know they've hired someone with a DUI but its definitely not the same as theft.

And would any hospital hire me? I've worked so hard to get my BSN and bc of this foolish mistake I made when I was 17 years old its now haunting me.

A DUI is not the same thing as theft because nurses aren't required to drive on the job (unless they work for a home health company). Theft is a different type of crime.

I don't work at Parkland, so I can't speak to what they will and will not allow. Each hospital is different.

BON will allow a license with stipulations for many different issues. Just because you have the license doesn't mean every employer is willing to work with someone with a background.

[BeenThereDunThat]

Just wondering but have you ever performed a background search on yourself? You said you were 17 which would seem to put your status at the time of the offense as a "minor". I'm not a legal expert but in some states certain offenses by minors seem to be "off-the-radar" as far as background checks are concerned and records could even be "sealed" considering the minor status. (check with lawyer).

Not saying you should mislead or lie about your past but it may be worth looking into as far as your status as a minor was concerned. You may not show up in a background check (and I'm talking an extensive background check typical of those by gov't agencies.)

You said you had deferred adjudication. Did you have a charge reduction and/or pretrial diversion? If so,
you might be eligible for expungement but again... I'm no lawyer and you should check with one on that if
you're curious.

FWIW and good luck.

[xS☺B☺s]

Also note BAYLOR will no longer employ you if you smoke cigarettes. In fact, they will fire you.

[newnurse13]

Originally Posted by BeenThereDunThat

Just wondering but have you ever performed a background search on yourself? You said you were 17 which would seem to put your status at the time of the offense as a "minor". I'm not a legal expert but in some states certain offenses by minors seem to be "off-the-radar" as far as background checks are concerned and records could even be "sealed" considering the minor status. (check with lawyer).

Not saying you should mislead or lie about your past but it may be worth looking into as far as your status as a minor was concerned. You may not show up in a background check (and I'm talking an extensive background check typical of those by gov't agencies.)

You said you had deferred adjudication. Did you have a charge reduction and/or pretrial diversion? If so,
you might be eligible for expungement but again... I'm no lawyer and you should check with one on that if
you're curious.

FWIW and good luck.

Thank you for the info! I did 2 background checks on myself, one with verified and the charge showed up and I requested one with groupone and it didnt show. :/ I did do my clinicals at the VA hospital and they did a background check by fingerprints and nothing came up either but that was bc they only did it from 7 years back. Unfortunately, I dont think thats the case with Parkland...I read somewhere they go all the way back.

17 years old in Texas is considered an adult. So I wouldn't even be able to get it sealed.

[newnurse13]

Originally Posted by xS☺Be

Also note BAYLOR will no longer employ you if you smoke cigarettes. In fact, they will fire you.

Oh wow! I don't smoke but thats good info to know!

[BeenThereDunThat]

One more question.... was your case handled by juvenile court? While you may be considered as an adult at 17 in TX, the legal system functions by the paper process and I've seen stranger things happen thanks to how a case was "processed". I had a client ask me for help in dealing with a background check as he had an assault charge dropped by participating in adjudicated DA diversion program which effectively didn't show up on the records. Now his arrest did show up but he wasn't convicted of the charge. So we had a lawyer dig and dig and dig and they couldn't find any corresponding records in the system, but his arrest kept showing up.

So the lawyer filed for expungement and it was removed with the exception that the DA reserved the file. This simply meant that if he ever got arrested again under similar charges, the file might be pulled to support repeat behavior. But the DA record would never be used in a background check as it would be prohibited due to the court expungement order. His thing was that the arrest record could screen him from employment consideration.

(Law is weird in Louisiana FWIW) Anyways...just wondering and offering food for thought if it helps. If your case was processed by juvenile court (even though you were 17)....it could maybe be sealed due to the court status loophole as being handled in the juvenile justice program. (Again not a lawyer here, but something to consider...good luck!)