Dallas WFAA-TV News did a great job on this story.  In my opinion the Texas Board of Nursing has a lot of explaining to do.  The fact that it will take another four years to complete background checks on nurses is incomprehensible.  If the system is broken change the system.  If the board is mandated to use this process, put another process in place while you are waiting.  Hiring an employment screening firm to keep people safe is the best course of action here.  The board is putting millions of patients at risk by negligently allowing some of these criminals into the workplace.

Thousands of Texas nurses have arrest records

11:23 AM CDT on Thursday, May 8, 2008

By JASON WHITELY / WFAA-TV

DALLAS – Few times in history has nursing become such a lucrative career.

“A good nursing supervisor, a manager, can make more than $100,000 a year in some cases,” said Devon Herrick, Senior Fellow, National Center for Policy Analysis.

Salaries spiked because of a shortage in the industry. But among the hardworking dedicated nurses are some with questionable backgrounds.

News 8 compared names and dates of births of every currently licensed nurse against the Texas Department of Public Safety criminal database.

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