MADISONVILLE COMMUNITY COLLEGE Nursing Division Student Background Policy and Procedure Purpose Madisonville Community College s (MCC) Nursing Division requires students to complete background checks and drug screening. It is the policy of MCC to review charges brought against students and to take such action deemed appropriate for the protection of fellow students, employees, patients, and families of patients of clinical facilities. Background checks on Integrated Nursing Program students and Nurse Aid students are required for many reasons including but not limited to: 1. To enhance the safety and well-being of patients/residents and, in so doing, to support the public s continuing trust in the nursing profession; 2. To ascertain the ability of students to eventually become licensed nurses or maintain current licensure; 3. To prevent potential liability issues which may affect the MCC Nursing Division and affiliated clinical facilities; and 4. To comply with mandatory requirements of clinical agencies utilized by the Nursing Division. Applicability The Nursing Division will require background checks and drug screenings to be performed when enrolled in NAA 100 (Nurse Aide class) and when admitted to the Integrated Nursing Program (NIP) by a vendor approved by the program. The only exception will be if a student has recently completed the NAA 100 course. The schedule for completion of background checks and drug screenings will then be as follows: Semester NAA 100 Taken and Preliminary Screenings Conducted Spring semester (Full semester or a biterm) Summer semester Fall semester First bi-term Fall semester Full semester or second bi-term Students who enter NIP who did not take NAA 100 Readmit Students Admission Date August of same January of next January of next August of next January or August upon admission January or August upon readmission Date of Next Screenings January of next August of next August of next August of next Yearly Yearly
Semester NAA 100 Taken and Preliminary Screenings Conducted LPN entry Admission Date January or August upon admission Date of Next Screenings Yearly Policy Statement All students must complete and submit a background check and drug screening through the approved vendor as a condition of continued enrollment as a NAA100 student or a NIP student. Failure to do so will result in mandatory withdrawal of the student from the NAA or nursing course. Continued enrollment in NAA100 or NIP courses is contingent upon a completed background check and drug screening. The student will be required to withdraw for failure to consent to a background check and drug screening; refusal to provide necessary information to conduct a background check; falsifying information; failure to provide any additional information wherein an investigation is warranted; failure to report a misdemeanor and/or felony conviction occurring in Kentucky or any other state while enrolled in NAA or NIP courses; and failure to comply with the investigatory procedures when a cause for further action is warranted due to the: 1. Discovery of previously undisclosed information; 2. Discovery of conflicting information between or among the NIP application and/or the Background Check Report (CBCR) and/or any and all documents considered part of a student s application; or 3. Discovery of a charge or conviction while enrolled in NAA or NIP courses. Trafficrelated misdemeanor(s) do not have to be reported, with the exception of operating a motor vehicle under the influence of drugs or alcohol. 4. It is the responsibility of any student enrolled in the nursing program or a nurse aide class to report any charges, other than minor traffic offenses, brought against them to nursing administration. This should be reported on the application for admission and then throughout the program. Any student failing to report such charges brought against them is subject to termination from the nursing program or nurse aide class. The student must report to nursing administration within 5 working days of the charge being issued. 5. If the charge against the student is related to substance abuse or the use of illegal substances, the student must also submit to a new drug screening through the approved vendor within the time frame allotted by nursing administration. KRS Chapter 314.011(21) defines a conviction as the following: a) An unvacated adjudication of guilt; b) Pleading no contest or nolo contender or entering an Alford plea; or c) Entering a guilty plea pursuant to a pretrial diversion order; Regardless of whether the penalty is rebated, suspended, or probated. Procedure for Review of Background Check and Drug Screen Findings: 1. The Preliminary Review Committee (PRC) will consist of the following: a. Nurse Administrator/Program Coordinator
b. Nursing Division Chair c. NAA Coordinator d. Appointed Faculty Representative e. Human Resources Representative from the associated clinical facility (only for adverse findings on CBCR report) 2. Upon receipt of a CBCR and drug screen from the approved vendor that shows adverse findings, the PRC will review the report. 3. The PRC will meet to determine if the student is eligible to attend clinical experiences. Adverse findings include but are not limited to: a. Arrests for / Abuses of controlled substances, prescription medications, illegal substances, or alcohol; b. Conviction of any felony, or a misdemeanor involving drugs, alcohol, fraud, deceit, falsification of records, a breach of trust, physical harm or endangerment to others (i.e. assault), or dishonesty, under the laws of any state or of the United States; c. Conviction of a misdemeanor offense under KRS Chapter 510 involving a patient, or a felony offense under KRS Chapter 510. 530.064(1)(a), or 531.310, or has been found to have had sexual contact as defined in KRS 510.010(7) with a patient; or d. Listed on the nurse aide abuse registry with a substantiated finding of abuse, neglect, or misappropriation of property. e. Positive urine drug screen. 4. If the PRC finds the student ineligible to attend clinical experiences, the student will be notified in writing by the Nurse Administrator. 5. The student will have five (5) days to submit an appeal to the Nurse Administrator following notification of the decision of the PRC regarding continued enrollment in the nursing program. 6. The student should contact the approved vendor if the student feels a background check report and/or drug screen is incomplete or inaccurate, by following the Summary of Your Rights Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (Appendix A). 7. If the CBCR and/or drug screen is not cleared prior to the first clinical day, the student will be required to withdraw from the nursing course. CBCRC Documentation 1. The student s file will be retained. 2. The CBC and CBCRC investigation records will be stored in a locked, limited access file cabinet in the Nursing Division Chair s office suite. 3. The file will be shredded at the appropriate time or whenever the student has successfully completed the AAS degree from MCC. If you need additional information about the expungement process, an Expungement Guidebook is available in the Nursing Office. A Summary of Your Rights Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act
The Federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) promotes the accuracy, fairness, and privacy of information in the files of consumer reporting agencies. There are many types of consumer reporting agencies, including credit bureaus and specialty agencies (such as agencies that sell information about check writing histories, medical records, and rental history records). Here is a summary of your major rights under the FCRA. For more information, including information about additional rights, go to www.consumerfinance.gov/learnmore or write to: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, 1700 G Street N.W., Washington, DC 20552. You must be told if information in your file has been used against you. Anyone who uses a credit report or another type of consumer report to deny your application for credit, insurance, or employment or to take another adverse action against you must tell you, and must give you the name, address, and phone number of the agency that provided the information. You have the right to know what is in your file. You may request and obtain all the information about you in the files of a consumer reporting agency (your file disclosure ). You will be required to provide proper identification, which may include your Social Security number. In many cases, the disclosure will be free. You are entitled to a free file disclosure if: a person has taken adverse action against you because of information in your credit report; you are the victim of identify theft and place a fraud alert in your file; your file contains inaccurate information as a result of fraud; you are on public assistance; you are unemployed but expect to apply for employment within 60 days. In addition, all consumers are entitled to one free disclosure every 12 months upon request from each nationwide credit bureau and from nationwide specialty consumer reporting agencies. See www.consumerfinance.gov/learnmore for additional information. You have the right to ask for a credit score. Credit scores are numerical summaries of your credit-worthiness based on information from credit bureaus. You may request a credit score from consumer reporting agencies that create scores or distribute scores used in residential real property loans, but you will have to pay for it. In some mortgage transactions, you will receive credit score information for free from the mortgage lender. You have the right to dispute incomplete or inaccurate information. If you identify information in your file that is incomplete or inaccurate, and report it to the consumer reporting agency, the agency must investigate unless your dispute is frivolous. See www.consumerfinance.gov/learnmore for an explanation of dispute procedures. Consumer reporting agencies must correct or delete inaccurate, incomplete, or unverifiable information. Inaccurate, incomplete or unverifiable information must be removed or corrected, usually within 30 days. However, a consumer reporting agency may continue to report information it has verified as accurate.
Consumer reporting agencies may not report outdated negative information. In most cases, a consumer reporting agency may not report negative information that is more than seven years old, or bankruptcies that are more than 10 years old. Access to your file is limited. A consumer reporting agency may provide information about you only to people with a valid need usually to consider an application with a creditor, insurer, employer, landlord, or other business. The FCRA specifies those with a valid need for access. You must give your consent for reports to be provided to employers. A consumer reporting agency may not give out information about you to your employer, or a potential employer, without your written consent given to the employer. Written consent generally is not required in the trucking industry. For more information, go to www.consumerfinance.gov/learnmore. You may limit prescreened offers of credit and insurance you get based on information in your credit report. Unsolicited prescreened offers for credit and insurance must include a toll-free phone number you can call if you choose to remove your name and address from the lists these offers are based on. You may opt-out with the nationwide credit bureaus at 1-888-567-8688. You may seek damages from violators. If a consumer reporting agency, or, in some cases, a user of consumer reports or a furnisher of information to a consumer reporting agency violates the FCRA, you may be able to sue in state or federal court. Identity theft victims and active duty military personnel have additional rights. For more information, visit www.consumerfinance.gov/learnmore. Written April 2015 Revised November 2015