You've worked hard to be able to apply for your nursing license. Years of education, testing, and practical experience have all led up to the point where you're ready to file your application. Then you see that you're required to disclose any criminal convictions that you have in your past. Suddenly, that misdemeanor conviction from years ago, whether it be for a DUI, shoplifting, or the consequence of some college prank, comes back to haunt you. Will you be approved for a license even with your old misdemeanor? Do you really have to disclose that conviction? What happens if you just leave it off of your application and don't tell the Board of Nursing about it?
First of all, you should be honest with the Board of Nursing when you file your application for a nurse's license. That said, the answers to some of these other questions aren't entirely clear. The Lento Law Firm's Professional License Defense Team can help you review any past convictions that you may have before you file your application for a nurse's license. Call us at 888.535.3686 or use our contact form to schedule a confidential consultation to learn how we can help you increase your chances of having your nursing license application accepted.
All Nursing License Applications Require You to Disclose Criminal Convictions
Let's get one thing straight: every state requires applicants for a nursing license to disclose on their application whether they have been convicted of any crimes in the past. These include both misdemeanors and felonies. Generally speaking, you will not be required to disclose things like parking tickets, low-level traffic violations, and other types of minor offenses that are not considered crimes in your state.
It's important to pay close attention to what the nursing license application is asking you to disclose when it asks you to list any prior criminal convictions. You do not want to risk accidentally failing to provide information about your past that you were required to provide simply because you weren't entirely clear about whether or not you had to disclose it. That said, if you have a misdemeanor or a felony conviction in your past, you can count on having to put that down on your application for the Board of Nursing to consider when they evaluate it.
Utah, for example, requires nursing license applicants to provide police reports, court records, probation or parole officer reports, and a personal account for every criminal conviction (as well as pending criminal cases) in the nurse's past. If you're working with an experienced professional license defense attorney, your lawyer can help you gather the information you need as well as prepare a compelling personal account that can make the difference between your license application being accepted or rejected by the BON.
What if My Misdemeanor Conviction Has Nothing to Do With Nursing or Patient Care?
Unfortunately, it is not for you to decide whether your misdemeanor conviction is one that your Board of Nursing will consider important when it evaluates your nursing license application. Boards of Nursing typically do not identify by specific type of crime which misdemeanor convictions must be disclosed and which convictions need not be listed on the application. This allows the Board to have the maximum amount of flexibility when considering nursing license applications.
The Ohio Board of Nursing, for example, states that it will “consider a number of factors” when evaluating the application of a nursing applicant with a criminal history.
Are There Convictions That Will Automatically Bar Me From Receiving a Nursing License?
Many states have lists of crimes that will automatically bar an applicant from receiving a nursing license. Generally, these are felony crimes. They often include offenses such as sex crimes, any crime where the convicted individual has to register as a sex offender, any crime involving intentional physical injury to a patient who was under your care (for example, where you were an aid working in a nursing home or hospital), and a number of different forcible felonies such as manslaughter, murder, and the like. Illinois is one state that will not approve an application from someone who has been convicted of these types of crimes.
That said, in many cases, there is no hard and fast rule that guarantees that a person with a particular felony in their past will automatically be rejected by the Nursing Board. Similarly, there is no rule that guarantees that an applicant with a minor or low-level misdemeanor will be granted a nursing license. Nursing Boards typically want to take into account a wide range of factors when deciding whether or not to grant a license to a nursing applicant.
For example, a serious felony that was committed a number of years ago by someone when they were young and who has since served their time and can provide evidence of rehabilitation may not bar them from receiving a nursing license. On the other hand, a person who discloses multiple misdemeanors, including very recent ones, may find their application rejected, in part because the Board may consider that their continued tendency to commit these crimes is evidence of an unfitness to hold a nursing license.
Because there are very few crimes that will automatically bar an applicant from receiving a nursing license, and almost no misdemeanors that fall into that category, it can be very important to work with an experienced professional license defense attorney from the Lento Law Firm if you have one or more misdemeanors and are applying for your nurses license. Our experienced attorneys can often help you properly disclose your past convictions as well as provide helpful information to your Board of Nursing that the Board can use to evaluate your current fitness to receive a nursing license.
In short, there are two things you should keep in mind when applying for your nursing license if you have one or more misdemeanor convictions in your past.
- First, it is extremely important to disclose those convictions. If you fail to do so, and your license is issued and the Board of Nursing learns that you were dishonest on your application, you could face a disciplinary proceeding that could result in you losing your license very quickly.
- Second, if you are working with an experienced professional license defense attorney, you can anticipate the kinds of information that the Board of Nursing is going to want to have so that it can properly evaluate your current fitness to receive your nursing license, even in the face of past misdemeanor convictions. Providing the Board with that information along with your application can make all the difference in whether your application is accepted and your nursing license issues.
What is a Misdemeanor?
Generally speaking, states divide offenses into three categories. The first can go by various names, including summary offenses, infractions, or violations. These are generally not considered crimes, even though you received a summons, appeared before a judge, pled guilty, and paid a fine.
Examples of some of these non-criminal offenses may include loitering, public drunkenness, minor traffic violations, and trespassing, among others – the list will vary from state to state. In most cases, you will not be required to disclose these to your Board of Nursing when applying for your license. That said, because each state is different in terms of how it categorizes its offenses, it's important to understand whether or not any convictions of this type in your past are misdemeanors or are something less than that. If you are working with one of the experienced attorneys from the Lento Law Firm's Professional License Defense Team, we will help you review your background and confirm whether or not any past offenses that you have are ones that should be reported to your nursing Board as part of your license application.
The next level of offense is the misdemeanor. Misdemeanors are typically the lowest level of what is considered a crime in most states. Note that not all states use the term misdemeanor for these lower-level crimes; New Jersey, for example, calls them disorderly persons offenses. Each state's criminal code will note whether a particular offense is a misdemeanor or a higher-level offense, such as a felony. Some crimes can be either a misdemeanor or felony depending on, for example, whether the defendant has been convicted of the same crime in the past or whether there are what may be called aggravating factors that cause the crime to be treated as more serious than a misdemeanor.
The highest level of crime in most states is called a felony. These are typically the most severe crimes, ones that come with the potential to serve many years in prison in addition to having to pay large amounts of money in fines. If you have been convicted of a felony in the past, you probably know it.
What you may not know – particularly if it happened a long time ago – is whether your prior low-level conviction was for a misdemeanor crime or something less than that, such as an infraction. This is where it is important for you to have as much information about any prior court appearances involving offenses or crimes and to give that information to your attorney. Your attorney will review it and can then let you know which (if any) must be disclosed to your Board of Nursing in your license application and which you are free to leave off.
Are There Misdemeanor Convictions That Will Automatically Disqualify Me From Getting a Nursing License?
Most states will not absolutely say that a specific misdemeanor conviction will automatically result in the denial of a nursing license. They will generally say that their nursing Boards will evaluate all factors when considering whether to approve the license application. Again, working with an experienced professional license defense attorney can help you be in a position to provide the Board of Nursing with the context that the Board needs to evaluate any prior misdemeanor convictions and to understand the reasons why you should receive the license you've applied for.
Certain misdemeanor convictions, such as for abuse of a child or a patient, lewdness or indecent exposure, domestic violence, or prostitution, could be significantly more difficult to overcome than offenses such as shoplifting, disorderly conduct, or vandalism. Again, having an experienced attorney from the Lento Law Firm's Professional License Defense Team help you prepare your application can make a difference in how your state's Board of Nursing reviews the application and considers the effect that your misdemeanor conviction or convictions will have on whether or not you are granted a license.
I Had a Misdemeanor Conviction Expunged. Do I Have to Disclose This?
Many states will expunge convictions automatically after a certain period of time, or if the person who was convicted files an application to have the conviction expunged, that application is granted. While your attorney in your prior case may have told you at some point that you are not required to disclose expunged convictions to anyone when it comes to nursing license applications, that is generally not how it works. Most nursing Boards will require you to disclose all prior convictions, even those that have been expunged.
The best way to be sure of whether you have to disclose an expunged misdemeanor or felony conviction is to consult with an experienced professional license defense attorney. At the Lento Law Firm, our attorneys can help you review the status of your expunged conviction and the requirements of your state's Board of Nursing and advise you whether that expunged conviction needs to be disclosed on your nursing license application.
I Pleaded “Nolo Contendere” to My Misdemeanor Charge. Do I Have to Disclose That?
Generally speaking, you need to disclose any “no contest” (“nolo contendere”) plea to a misdemeanor charge to the Board of Nursing when you file your application. This is true even in cases where your sentence was suspended or in cases where you performed community service or some other alternative form of sentence, and the case was then terminated.
You should disclose these instances to your professional license defense attorney before you file your nursing license application. You do not want to put yourself in a position where you fail to tell your Board of Nursing about a misdemeanor disposition that the Board believes you should have disclosed. Your attorney will help you make sure that your application meets all of the requirements in terms of properly disclosing past criminal dispositions.
The Lento Law Firm's Professional License Defense Team is Here to Help
It can be a nerve-racking experience to know that you have something in your past that could stand in the way of you receiving the nursing license that you have worked so hard to be able to earn. The Lento Law Firm's Professional License Defense Team can help you with that application by making sure you meet your obligation to disclose any prior misdemeanor or other convictions to your Board of Nursing. Perhaps more importantly, our attorneys will also help you provide the Board of Nursing with the context information that it needs to be able to understand why your prior conviction or convictions (or no contest pleas) should not disqualify you from being able to hold a nursing license.
You have worked extremely hard to get to the point where you are able to apply for your nursing license. The Lento Law Firm's Professional License Defense Team is here to help you get the best chance of getting that license, even if you have had one or more misdemeanors in your past. Call us today at 888.535.3686 or use our contact form to schedule a confidential consultation to learn more about how we can help you protect your future.
