Excerpt from our blog:

Seventy-two nurses employed in state-licensed facilities have been disqualified from working with patients after the state learned that the nurses had criminal records.

The findings come after the Star Tribune presented records to the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) last year that 294 actively licensed nurses had convictions including fraud, assault and criminal sexual conduct that by law require the agency to forbid them from working directly with patients.

The DHS did not previously know about the backgrounds of 107 of those nurses, and worked to see if they were working in facilities licensed by the agency.

DHS spokeswoman Karen Smigielski said that 35 of the 107 nurses were not in positions that would require a background study and disqualification.

BRANDON STAHL

More at startribune.com/whistleblower