Nursing students will be required to have an annual criminal records check, beginning with the first year of enrollment in nursing courses. 

Miami University will deny admission to the nursing program for any prospective student whose criminal background check reveals a conviction or guilty plea for any of the following criminal offenses:

• Aggravated murder
• Murder
• Voluntary manslaughter
• Felonious assault
• Kidnapping
• Rape
• Aggravated robbery
• Theft
• Aggravated burglary
• Sexual battery
• Gross sexual imposition
• Aggravated arson
• Any felony
• Any crime involving gross immorality or moral turpitude
• Any misdemeanor drug law violation
• Any misdemeanor committed in the course of practice
• Any crime involving the elderly or children

This list is derived from the requirements of the Ohio Board of Nursing for its licensing requirements. However, Miami University’s list of prohibited criminal activity is not exactly duplicative of the Ohio Board of Nursing’s licensure requirements. Applicants should be aware that admission and completion of Miami University’s nursing program does not guarantee that the Ohio Board of Nursing will accept an applicant's criminal history and allow testing.

Moreover, many of the agencies with which Miami University’s Department of Nursing places students for clinical opportunities require criminal records checks of students. The standards used by those clinical sites may be more stringent and are subject to change. Clinical experiences are required for successful completion of the nursing major. This may make successful completion of the program difficult or impossible for those students who possess a criminal history even if the student is permitted admission to the nursing program.

Two background checks must be completed: one by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation (BCII) and one by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Instructions for obtaining and submitting the criminal records check will be provided in the letter of acceptance issued to admitted applicants this spring.

Admission to Miami University’s nursing program is contingent upon successful Ohio and federal criminal records checks.