Background check for entering students
We require entering students to submit their fingerprints to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation (BCII).
This record check may reveal both students' unsealed and sealed convictions. Please inform us immediately of any convictions, guilty pleas or findings of guilt that occur after your enrollment here. Felony and misdemeanor records may result in an inability to progress in the nursing program and subsequent withdrawal from the program.
Felony preclusion rule
The rule is in effect for all students entering a pre-licensure nursing program after June 1, 2003.
During the senior year of the nursing program, as part of the application process to take the state licensing examination (NCLEX-RN), the Ohio Board of Nursing requires students to submit their fingerprints to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation (BCII).
If the fingerprint check reveals an egregious felony, the Ohio Board of Nursing will deny the applicant entrance to the examination.
According to the Ohio Board of Nursing, egregious felonies include
- aggravated murder,
- murder,
- voluntary manslaughter,
- felonious assault,
- kidnapping,
- rape,
- sexual battery,
- gross sexual imposition,
- aggravated arson,
- aggravated robbery and
- aggravated burglary.
Other felonies will be referred to the Compliance Unit for investigation and may result in either a denial of entrance to the examination or licensure with a permanent and public notation of Board action (i.e., punishment).
More about Ohio Board of Nursing licensure requirements.
Students who wish to be licensed in other states should be aware that similar criminal background check requirements may apply. You should consult the applicable state Board of Nursing.