Criminal background checks: necessary admission criteria?

Abstract

The issues that nursing school admissions staff may face in evaluating potential students' criminal backgrounds are discussed. There has been a trend to require criminal background checks for health care professionals throughout the United States related to taking the NCLEX-RN and securing employment in health care agencies. The majority of state boards of nursing are now requiring criminal background checks on potential licensees. Ultimately, the decision of whether or not to perform criminal background checks rests with individual schools. While admitting students without performing criminal background checks could, in some cases, lead to undesirable consequences and injure the reputation of the school and the nursing profession, denying admission to otherwise qualified applicants because of certain past criminal infractions could exclude potentially well-qualified students. This article offers guidelines for nursing programs that choose to perform background checks.