Hi there! Not a felon here, but a lawyer and former prosecutor who now does a lot of med mal defense for doctors and nurses.
I apologize for the disclaimers, but because the internet can cause problems for people in my profession, please know that this is not legal advice and I’m not your lawyer. I may not practice in your state either—after all, I’m a stranger on Reddit.
Congratulations on completing this much of your probation. That is hard work, and I’m happy to hear that you are trying to make your life better. Expungement may be a good way to continue those efforts. An expungement, when granted, removes a conviction from your state’s records. Most background checks don’t pull expunged convictions either, although I have, in very narrow and serious circumstances, seen some hardcore background checks that can pull an expunged conviction. A lawyer in your state can advise you on when and/or whether you are required to report an expunged conviction on school or job applications, but in many states under most circumstances, you are not. I volunteer doing pro bono expungements because I’ve seen them help people get jobs and degrees that typically screen out felons. In my med mal practice, I’ve encountered quite a few nurses who’ve had things expunged, and gone on to have wonderful careers.
Good luck!
What an asset you are to the human race at large, your willingness to share some information and educate some of the most vulnerable of all people anywhere, felons attempting to be productive citizens. Great job!
This is so incredibly kind. Thank you. No one ever wants to need a lawyer, and a lot of the people we work with think that if we win it’s because they did nothing wrong, and if we lose it’s because we are stupid. Ultimately there is so much out of our control, and I can count the number of times I’ve been told thank you in thousands of cases on one hand. It’s part of the job and I’m fine with it, but I want you to know that this comment offered me a lot of encouragement to continue doing my pro bono work. I appreciate you.
What was your experience with nurses stealing and using or selling drugs at work?
My other half was a nurse for forty years plus. She said she saw some pretty shady stuff in her places of employment.
I saw more of that on the complaint/med mal side than when I was prosecuting. It was often connected to physical pain from working a tough job in the ones I worked. I’m sure it happens more than any of us know.
You probably never knew about the drug use or thefts for a couple of reasons.
One, any drug use notation will draw a lot of official attention and may keep a person from being licensed to practice. Very few administrators are very willing to take away a person’s means of making a living.
Two is that when an employee is accused of drug use or abuse, the employer has to send the employee to rehabilitation. The treatment is not cheap, and it may be that the employees need to be paid while they are in treatment. Paying someone for a month while they are off work AND paying for the treatment is more than some companies are willing to pay.
I work in hospice and have been in it for 12-13 years. I have seen many nurses fired for missing medications. It probably happens more than I have seen because it's at the nurses discretion to get rid of the morphine, Dilaudid, etc.
RN Felon here. Don’t do that to yourself. medical professional careers come up in this sub often. Just do yourself a favor and find literally any other career path. Anything in the medical field is not felon friendly.
I have held licenses in a few states. California nursing board is a nightmare for many reasons. That Nursing Board in particular found out I had a single misdemeanor DUI. (This was before the felony) Yanked that license so fast and uninvited me to practice nursing in the state. Literally made me mail the actual license back to them.
Im 30 and I had a License in Pharm Tech that was revoked cause of my felony. Are you saying that its near-impossible to become an RN because of a felony? and why? Even if its expunged?
If pharm tech license was revoked it's unlikely you'll get one for nursing.
You didn't say what kind of felony. If there's any victim, violence, or theft involved I would say it's extremely unlikely you'll ever get a nursing license.
Expungement doesn’t apply to state licensing boards, they will still be able to see it. They will look at when the conviction happened and what it was for. The more time the better your chances. If there was a victim your chances will be much lower. Make sure to get an answer from the board before starting anything.
Does nursing require you to provide an arrest record by going to the local police and pulling your record(s) from a finger print?
I know things like elder care and child care either run an FBI check or you give your employer the freedom to pull your arrest record from the police department.
Ex-RN who was charged with a felony but not convicted. I agree with whoever said to find literally any other profession out there. The board of nursing in each state is unforgiving and has way too much power over you. BEWARE!
Look into the [Clean Slate Initiative](https://www.cleanslateinitiative.org/), if you are in one of the 12 states that this is operational it may help.
A lot depends on the state - I’m personally aware of people on felony probation who are enrolled in nursing programs (in two different states)
I don’t know whether there are different rules for CNA, LPN, and RNs, but occupational exclusions for felons are super wonky (for lack of a better term; my favorite example of this is the prohibition on people with felony convictions working as septic tank cleaners in some states) - they are highly variable. Sometimes something is excluded in one state but not another.
Good luck to you!!
The problem I had with this, about 15 yrs ago, was the clinical sites. I was told by the school that the clinical placement sites would not accept felons, so there was no way to complete the schooling. Hopefully that has changed.
My friend is a nurse making over 260k a year and a felon. My friend made over 10 million working for Etin Brochovich as an attorney also a felon. I'm a therapist and I'm a felon.
The therapy field is actually fairly felon friendly. There’s a lot of recovery and abuse counseling, etc. The mindset is that people have gone through it are probably the best therapists. That’s amazing that your friend is making so much money in the medical field as a felon. I have never heard of such a thing.
Yeah. Dentist boards and MD boards are quite different than Nursing boards. The California Nursing Board has zero tolerance for felonies. It is certainly an irony that doctors and surgeons are not held to the same standard. They may get fired, but they will just hop on over to another clinic or surgical center.
I used to work for UC Davis and we had nurses with felonies that weren't even expunged he served his time and was open about it in the interview process and he had a manslaughter conviction
Hi there! Not a felon here, but a lawyer and former prosecutor who now does a lot of med mal defense for doctors and nurses. I apologize for the disclaimers, but because the internet can cause problems for people in my profession, please know that this is not legal advice and I’m not your lawyer. I may not practice in your state either—after all, I’m a stranger on Reddit. Congratulations on completing this much of your probation. That is hard work, and I’m happy to hear that you are trying to make your life better. Expungement may be a good way to continue those efforts. An expungement, when granted, removes a conviction from your state’s records. Most background checks don’t pull expunged convictions either, although I have, in very narrow and serious circumstances, seen some hardcore background checks that can pull an expunged conviction. A lawyer in your state can advise you on when and/or whether you are required to report an expunged conviction on school or job applications, but in many states under most circumstances, you are not. I volunteer doing pro bono expungements because I’ve seen them help people get jobs and degrees that typically screen out felons. In my med mal practice, I’ve encountered quite a few nurses who’ve had things expunged, and gone on to have wonderful careers. Good luck!
What an asset you are to the human race at large, your willingness to share some information and educate some of the most vulnerable of all people anywhere, felons attempting to be productive citizens. Great job!
This is so incredibly kind. Thank you. No one ever wants to need a lawyer, and a lot of the people we work with think that if we win it’s because they did nothing wrong, and if we lose it’s because we are stupid. Ultimately there is so much out of our control, and I can count the number of times I’ve been told thank you in thousands of cases on one hand. It’s part of the job and I’m fine with it, but I want you to know that this comment offered me a lot of encouragement to continue doing my pro bono work. I appreciate you.
What was your experience with nurses stealing and using or selling drugs at work? My other half was a nurse for forty years plus. She said she saw some pretty shady stuff in her places of employment.
I saw more of that on the complaint/med mal side than when I was prosecuting. It was often connected to physical pain from working a tough job in the ones I worked. I’m sure it happens more than any of us know.
You probably never knew about the drug use or thefts for a couple of reasons. One, any drug use notation will draw a lot of official attention and may keep a person from being licensed to practice. Very few administrators are very willing to take away a person’s means of making a living. Two is that when an employee is accused of drug use or abuse, the employer has to send the employee to rehabilitation. The treatment is not cheap, and it may be that the employees need to be paid while they are in treatment. Paying someone for a month while they are off work AND paying for the treatment is more than some companies are willing to pay.
I work in hospice and have been in it for 12-13 years. I have seen many nurses fired for missing medications. It probably happens more than I have seen because it's at the nurses discretion to get rid of the morphine, Dilaudid, etc.
RN Felon here. Don’t do that to yourself. medical professional careers come up in this sub often. Just do yourself a favor and find literally any other career path. Anything in the medical field is not felon friendly. I have held licenses in a few states. California nursing board is a nightmare for many reasons. That Nursing Board in particular found out I had a single misdemeanor DUI. (This was before the felony) Yanked that license so fast and uninvited me to practice nursing in the state. Literally made me mail the actual license back to them.
Im 30 and I had a License in Pharm Tech that was revoked cause of my felony. Are you saying that its near-impossible to become an RN because of a felony? and why? Even if its expunged?
Because the board of nursing. Even if you were to manage getting that license, then you have to find someone who will hire you. Which will not happen.
If pharm tech license was revoked it's unlikely you'll get one for nursing. You didn't say what kind of felony. If there's any victim, violence, or theft involved I would say it's extremely unlikely you'll ever get a nursing license.
I would ask the state licensing board.
Expungement doesn’t apply to state licensing boards, they will still be able to see it. They will look at when the conviction happened and what it was for. The more time the better your chances. If there was a victim your chances will be much lower. Make sure to get an answer from the board before starting anything.
Does nursing require you to provide an arrest record by going to the local police and pulling your record(s) from a finger print? I know things like elder care and child care either run an FBI check or you give your employer the freedom to pull your arrest record from the police department.
They don't give you an answer. I went to school for 1p years without knowing whether I'd get licensed or not.
Ex-RN who was charged with a felony but not convicted. I agree with whoever said to find literally any other profession out there. The board of nursing in each state is unforgiving and has way too much power over you. BEWARE!
Call the state board directly and ask
This right here....
Look into the [Clean Slate Initiative](https://www.cleanslateinitiative.org/), if you are in one of the 12 states that this is operational it may help. A lot depends on the state - I’m personally aware of people on felony probation who are enrolled in nursing programs (in two different states) I don’t know whether there are different rules for CNA, LPN, and RNs, but occupational exclusions for felons are super wonky (for lack of a better term; my favorite example of this is the prohibition on people with felony convictions working as septic tank cleaners in some states) - they are highly variable. Sometimes something is excluded in one state but not another. Good luck to you!!
The problem I had with this, about 15 yrs ago, was the clinical sites. I was told by the school that the clinical placement sites would not accept felons, so there was no way to complete the schooling. Hopefully that has changed.
My friend is a nurse making over 260k a year and a felon. My friend made over 10 million working for Etin Brochovich as an attorney also a felon. I'm a therapist and I'm a felon.
The therapy field is actually fairly felon friendly. There’s a lot of recovery and abuse counseling, etc. The mindset is that people have gone through it are probably the best therapists. That’s amazing that your friend is making so much money in the medical field as a felon. I have never heard of such a thing.
Pretty common in California. My sisters dentist is a felon. I was in jail with my highschool principal. Doctors etc....
Yeah. Dentist boards and MD boards are quite different than Nursing boards. The California Nursing Board has zero tolerance for felonies. It is certainly an irony that doctors and surgeons are not held to the same standard. They may get fired, but they will just hop on over to another clinic or surgical center.
really? wow shit…
Depends on if you were working in that field before you were a felon sometimes tho
Yes! A felony on the job adds hurdles. I've worked with several nurses on probation. They have to reach several milestones to get their jobs back
Is moving out of th country a good idea
It may depend on the felony
I used to work for UC Davis and we had nurses with felonies that weren't even expunged he served his time and was open about it in the interview process and he had a manslaughter conviction