The following applies to all Nursing Programs:
Required Background Checks/Prior Convictions
Admission to the Nursing Program is contingent upon receiving a 'negative' result on a required Criminal Background Check and drug screen. The background check will include county, statewide, and federal screening. Students who have reason to believe that a background check would reveal a prior misdemeanor or felony, must get these matters expunged from their record prior to being admitted into the Nursing program, or you should seek another career path.
We will provide students with full instructions on how and where to complete this background check and drug screen once you are conditionally admitted to the program.
If you have questions, please send an email to nursingapplication@csusm.edu.
Background Check and Drug Screen Policy
Pre-Licensure Programs
- All students are required to complete a background check upon conditional admission to the School of Nursing.1,2 Students who have a flagged background check will not be admitted to the nursing program. Students will be able to join a later cohort pending Space Available when their background check is unflagged.
- All students are required to complete a Nursing Consortium background check and drug screen prior to their first nursing clinical course. An additional background check and drug screen may be required by the School of Nursing at a later time during the program. Students are required to have a negative urine drug screening and background check which includes a state, county, and federal screening. This background check is accessed by the clinical agencies for approval for clinical placement. If a student receives a dilute reading on his/her drug screen results, then the student is required to go back and re-test within a twenty-four hour time period. Failure to comply with this requirement will result in dismissal from the program.
- Applicants for Licensure by Examination in the state of California must take the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX-RN). The California Board of Registered Nursing requires a Live Scan fingerprint application as part of the application process. The Live Scan includes a State (DOJ) and Federal (FBI) level criminal history record check. Please access http://www.rn.ca.gov/pdfs/enforcement/appdocs.pdf for additional information.
- Some clinical sites will require students to complete a Live Scan clearance. If the student does not clear the Live Scan clearance then s/he may not be permitted to attend the clinical rotation. The student risks dismissal from the program should this occur.
1 The Office of Extended Learning will mail each student in the Accelerated BSN cohort a letter of conditional admission. Soon after, students will receive a letter with instructions on how to place an order for one’s background check. Students will have approximately two weeks to order their background check online. If this deadline is not met, the student will not be guaranteed a seat in the cohort.
2 “Upon conditional admission to the School of Nursing” is defined as the date that a student in the Traditional BSN program states that s/he accepts a seat in the cohort. An email confirmation from the student to the advisor ensures that the student’s seat is secured in the Traditional BSN program.
Approved: November 26, 2012 Faculty Meeting
AB 540 Student Information
Our Consortium of Clinical Sites require that all Nursing Program students obtain a 'negative' result on the required Criminal Background Check. For the Criminal Background Check to be completed, students need a valid Social Security Number, a valid F-1 Visa, or be a legal non-resident. Until there is some form of Immigration reform to grant citizenship to AB 540 students, such students cannot currently be admitted to any of our Nursing Programs. AB 540 students may want to pursue a degree here at the University in another discipline, while also meeting the specific course requirements for the Nursing major, so as to be prepared for entry in the future to the Accelerated BSN program, once the law changes. We encourage such students to meet with a Nursing Advisor to plan out their coursework carefully. We cannot anticipate when immigration reform will occur in this country, thus we encourage all AB 540 students to apply for admission to a Nursing program, when deemed eligible to apply, in the hopes that reform may occur prior to the actual admission process to the program.
