[16mai1987]

Hello all you noble nurses.


I am in need of help. My plan is to graduate with an Associates Degree in perioperative nursing in the fall of 2011. I am taking the entrance exam in one month. I am very excited to enter this fast-paced, booming profession.

However, I have on my record a misdemeanor conviction. It is possession of small amount of marijuana / paraphernalia. It was under 30 grams so there was no intent to distribute. It occurred in 2006.

I have had no interactions with law enforcement since this. I need to know if this past indiscretion will prevent me from being employed as a nurse in Pennsylvania.


Any information, links to websites or suggestions are greatly appreciated. Thank you.

[SoldierNurse]

Originally Posted by 16mai1987

Hello all you noble nurses.


I am in need of help. My plan is to graduate with an Associates Degree in perioperative nursing in the fall of 2011. I am taking the entrance exam in one month. I am very excited to enter this fast-paced, booming profession.

However, I have on my record a misdemeanor conviction. It is possession of small amount of marijuana / paraphernalia. It was under 30 grams so there was no intent to distribute. It occurred in 2006.

I have had no interactions with law enforcement since this. I need to know if this past indiscretion will prevent me from being employed as a nurse in Pennsylvania.


Any information, links to websites or suggestions are greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Hello!

First, to the best of my knowledge you cannot get an ADN in Perioperative Nursing. Of course, you can get an ADN, generalist [so to speak], then attend a perioperative nurse course in conjunction with employment.

Second, contact your state's board of nursing for info regards to your past indiscretion D/T you must have a nursing license before you can become an employed RN.

Good luck.

[16mai1987]

Thank-you for your informative response.

[cougarnurse]

Check with the appropriate State Board, listed on the site. I am sure that you will have to 'answer' to the school you will be attending, and then the BON when you take boards.

Good luck, and let us know how it goes.

'Cat'

[RNmedicTN]

One possible route you can take is to speak with an attorney about presenting your case before the judge for expungement on the grounds that you have served your time/paid your penalty, or whatever it was that the court required.

I feel it my duty to warn you that aside from state and federal penalties, if you are on that mess in nursing school, and you are caught; there is a 0 tolerance policy in most nursing schools.

So, if you are really dedicated and want to become an RN, you are going to have to choose, which path it is you want to take, and no one is to far gone to make the right decision.

As for Peri-operative, we as registered nurses go through a rigorous curriculum which prepares us as "entry level generalist nurses", of whom can generally pursue their own specialty. In doing so, your true nursing education begins.

For instance, we all graduate with an RN, but when we get out in the world, we need to decide: Am I a Med/Surg nurse, OB Nurse, Critical Care Nurse, Emergency Nurse, etc.

Once you choose your nursing area, in your case perioperative, you will receive a sort of on the job training as an RN I in whatever unit you have chosen.

Good luck with your nursing.

[16mai1987]

Originally Posted by RNmedicTN

One possible route you can take is to speak with an attorney about presenting your case before the judge for expungement on the grounds that you have served your time/paid your penalty, or whatever it was that the court required.

I feel it my duty to warn you that aside from state and federal penalties, if you are on that mess in nursing school, and you are caught; there is a 0 tolerance policy in most nursing schools.

So, if you are really dedicated and want to become an RN, you are going to have to choose, which path it is you want to take, and no one is to far gone to make the right decision.

As for Peri-operative, we as registered nurses go through a rigorous curriculum which prepares us as "entry level generalist nurses", of whom can generally pursue their own specialty. In doing so, your true nursing education begins.

For instance, we all graduate with an RN, but when we get out in the world, we need to decide: Am I a Med/Surg nurse, OB Nurse, Critical Care Nurse, Emergency Nurse, etc.

Once you choose your nursing area, in your case perioperative, you will receive a sort of on the job training as an RN I in whatever unit you have chosen.

Good luck with your nursing.

It was a stupid mistake to even talk to those kind of people, and I feel ashamed everyday for what I did. I have abstained from anything and everything for these past years. I have even gone to such lengths as to stop contact with certain people I know that still engage in that kind of behavior. Believe me. I am completely clean, and have an avid hatred of drug users.

[RNmedicTN]

"It's only a mistake if you never learned from it."

- My old nursing professor