I am 47 years old, was born and raised in California, and I have been a licensed Registered Nurse in California since I passed my nursing boards in 1996. I have never had any issues upon a background check my entire career or life (for that matter). I recently applied for my RN licensure to the state of Nevada, as my workplace has requested I do so in order to be able to make calls to patients in that state. I currently work as a telephonic RN Case Manager.

The state of Nevada Board of Nursing has sent me a letter claiming that I lied on their application as my fingerprint background check shows that in 1985, when I was 16 years old I was charged with burglary. I have NEVER had this come up before and I honestly, did not even remember being charged with such a crime. What I do remember was that as a teenager, I was at the shopping mall with a girlfriend who did steal a shirt from a department store and when we left the store we were stopped and taken to the police station where they called our parents to come pick us up. I do not believe I was ever charged for any crime as I was only with my friend when she took the shirt. I did not have any kind of court appearance or need to meet with a judge that I can recall. The only thing I remember was being told that since I was a juvenile, that the record of the incident would be sealed and not be anything that would harm my future. I do not believe I was ever charged with anything as I was never tried for any crime and never even saw a judge.

How is this even coming back to haunt me more than 30 years later and after I have had numerous background checks and have been fingerprinted as a nurse and never had any issues with this before? I did not lie on their application as I don’t believe I was ever charged with burglary or even a lessor crime.

How can I clear this issue with the state of Nevada so that I can legally work as a RN in that state?