Prelicensure RN Students With and Without Criminal Histories: A Comparative Analysis

The purpose of this study was to determine whether certain key outcomes differ between preRN licensure students who have a criminal history and those who do not. Outcomes examined were program completion, NCLEX-RN® passage, subsequent criminal acts, and subsequent professional misconduct. A retrospective descriptive-comparative research design was used. The sample consisted of 3,166 applicants from the 2006 cohort of preRN licensure students in Louisiana who met the criteria for inclusion in the study. Analysis of the data revealed 10% of participants with a criminal history had a subsequent criminal incident, whereas only 3.4% of the noncriminal history group had a subsequent criminal incident. Additionally, 4.5% of the criminal history group had subsequent professional misconduct compared with 1% of the noncriminal history group.