Many applicants for a Florida nurse compact license are surprised to learn that they are ineligible for a compact license due to their criminal history; especially, nurses who were issued a license disclosing the same criminal history.
All felony charges, regardless of adjudication (unless dismissed or reduced to a misdemeanor) will result a denial of your application for a compact license to the Florida Board of Nursing.
The application for a Nursing Multistate License Upgrade states:
NURSE LICENSURE COMPACT (NLC) Requirements that must be met in order to qualify for a multistate license from Florida:
Florida must be the Primary State of Residence
Must not have a felony conviction, regardless of adjudication
Must not be enrolled with the Intervention Project for Nurses (IPN) or any other treatment program for impaired practitioners
Must have a U.S. Social Security number
Livescan results must be submitted no more than 90 days prior to the submission of the application and fees or anytime within a year of applying Applicant
There is no time limit or consideration of the specific felony charge. For example, an applicant with has a felony driving while license suspended from 20 years ago and the court withheld adjudication is still ineligible for a compact license.
Thankfully, the Florida Board of Nursing usually notifies the applicant that they are ineligible for a license upgrade and allows the applicant the opportunity to withdraw their application. This is very important because if the application is not withdrawn and the notice of the denial becomes final, the denial of an application for a nursing license is reported to the National Practitioner Data Bank and must be disclosed when asked on future applications for licensure.
Call me for a free telephone consultation and candid discussion about IPN and protecting your nursing license. I represent nurses throughout all of Florida. As a former prosecutor for the Florida Department of Health, I have extensive training, knowledge and experience in this area of practice.
Call 7 days a week (850) 307-5665 or (800) 659-7547.
