Nursing Degree with a felony?

I live in Michigan and want to declare my major in nursing. I am having a hard time getting a straight answer though. According to the school, because of Public Health Code 42 USC 1320a-7, I can not get a nursing license until after 15 years have passed between my sentencing and probation ending. According to the michigan.gov site, each applicants situation is reviewed and determined on an individual basis. My charge was a Non-Sufficient Funds Check.
Can I still apply to the nursing program at school and be able to do my clinical work? Will the school be able to deny me admission into their nursing program based on a felony like mine, even though the state won't automatically deny me without reviewing my application first?

The charge is a felony because it was more than $500.00. I have no interest in narcotics and it was not a requirement as part of my probation to have to do drug screening as I have never done drugs.
An attorney is a good idea, but I worry about the cost as I am a student and not working.
What if the record is expunged? Is it still something that will be pulled up? I know that even an expunged record can be found because it stays in the system for legalities. Is the nursing board someplace that can pull that up? I do not have any other criminal history.

You need to call the State Board of Nursing and ask them this question. They are the people who will be giving you a license and will be the final deciders.

a school would accept you but it is up to employer to hire

nobody is going to hire a nurse with a felony because there are plenty of nurses looking for job that haven't committed a felony

I would spend a little money and get an attorney. The licensing departments in Michigan are somewhat fickle and a good attorney can cut through the red tape for you. Good luck with your career.

I would NOT apply to the school until you get a DEFINITE answer from someone in your state. A school wants your money and may let you right in; you could wind up going through the entire program and spending all that money only to be denied a nursing license. Someone in your state health dept. has to be able to tell you.

I think you may be wise to contact a lawyer to find out. They may be able to research for a small fee.

While I do not know any nurses with felonies, I have heard stories of teachers who have been denied licensure/jobs or were removed from the classroom when it was discovered that they had felonies.

Another thing to consider and I am not sure how this would work, say you got your license, but you started interviewing for jobs and those employers would not hire you? The healthcare places in my area do fingerprints/background checks on employees and those results may prevent you from being hired. I don't know....
I wish you lots of luck and hope you can get that information.

hire an attorney and ask them to do the research for you.. you dont want to apply for a job or anything until you are sure

How was that "charge" pushed to a felony? Every other state it is a misdemeanor....Do you have other criminal back ground....What about getting a "letter of good standing".

"Non-sufficient funds check" is a felony??

There is currently a shortage of nurses in the US, so much that nurses overseas have been put on the fast-track for working visas and permanent residency for themselves and their close relatives. So I don't think it's a matter of having necessarily to "compete" against non-felons for the job. Your best bet is to contact the licensing board and ask them straight up whether your specific charge will prevent you from getting your license at all, or if you just have to wait the 15 years, or something else. There really isn't much point in doing and completing the nursing program if you won't be practicing, so you should ask the board before you do anything else.

You can't do clinical work...period. The whole point of denying admission is that you are working around narcotics and patients and they do not need the liability of having someone who was convicted of a felony in that type of situation. Maybe you can get into the LPN program? LPNs usually do not pass out meds in most hospitals, so that might be an option.

http://www.prop36.org/successStories_Jan...
she did it.

I am not worried about getting licensed, because they look at each person differently. I have a felony for drugs and it was expunged, pulse i have proof of rehabilitation for the SBN. The only thing I'm worried about is if the school will be able to see my record after its expunged. You don't need an attorney, just talk to the court clerk about getting your record expunged, ask them how you would go about petitioning that. Then, despite what the other people have said, EMPLOYERS CAN NOT SEE YOUR RECORD AFTER ITS BEEN EXPUNGED.