RN student and asking about personal meds?

xtxrn, ASN, RN · Jul 31, 2011

this is probably as good a time as any to get people to go look up what the actual hipaa rules are. i see far too many people who say, "i can't tell you that because of hipaa" when what they really mean is, "i slept through that inservice/i am too lazy to get up and read the guidelines in the binder on the other side of the desk/my brother-in-law's first cousin is a lawyer and she says i shouldn't talk to anybody about anything i see in the hospital."

i absolutely agree with most of this but talking about things in a hospital is probably not a good thing to do with people who know the situation but are not part of the care. specifics with non-care personnel would be a problem

xtxrn, ASN, RN · Jul 31, 2011

I do have concerns about the pre-employment physicals. Are they usually given after an offer is made?? I'm diabetic can I do the job, YES. Am I going to be more expensive to insure ABSOLUTLY!! If it comes down to me and an equally qualified canidate with no preexisting medical issues, guess who I am going to hire??[/quote']
Yikes. If the person can do the job equally, why discriminate? The group insurance rates are the same (would be an issue with privately insured businesses - which I don't like d/t personal experience w/ignorance- NOT saying your comment was ignorant at all- the people I dealt with were ) I'm diabetic as well- never had an issue w/getting jobs.

VagusX · Jul 31, 2011

I am in the same boat with this issue and I'm not sure what to think with regards to employment opportunities. It would be great if anyone here who deals with hiring RN's could add their thoughts on this.

I have been medicated for ADHD and insomnia for 8 years and have held steady at the same dosage for the last 5. I'm pre-nursing right now and don't anticipate a problem with getting into the program, but I'm not sure where I stand for future jobs. The general opinion of these drugs seems to be steadily shifting towards the negative spectrum, despite the positive, life-changing effect they have afforded me.

What is the best way to approach the application and medical form process? Should a letter from the doctor be included? When it comes down to picking a candidate, how much weight does this kind of information have?

Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN · Aug 1, 2011

I do have concerns about the pre-employment physicals. Are they usually given after an offer is made?? I'm diabetic can I do the job, YES. Am I going to be more expensive to insure ABSOLUTLY!! If it comes down to me and an equally qualified canidate with no preexisting medical issues, guess who I am going to hire??[/quote']
This is a new and very real threat as I know personally. It may not be diabetes that facilities are afraid of but mental illness and certain auto-immune disorders like MS where meds are expensive and the potential for eventual disability is high.....even though everyone knows that MANY people with MS function perfectly well for many many years and are perfectly capable of performing their jobs. I also have known instances where people have been fired or laid off for "poor performance" and backstage conversations were all about over usage of insurance benefits by the employee or the employee family member and getting the "charge that the hospital" pays tot he insurance lowered but eliminating the "expensive" usage. It is for this reason when I see articles about hospitals not hiring smokers.......strikes fear in my heart of a slippery slope of discrimination and exclusion of all except a "perfect" few..........

turnforthenurse, MSN, NP · Aug 1, 2011

If they somehow got ahold of it WITHOUT you knowing, then it is a HIPAA violation; however, since you are giving them permission and filling out a medical record, it is not a violation.

Rob72, ASN, RN · Aug 1, 2011

Without going hither & yon, I would simply say that I will only list meds that may be shown on a SDS/UDS. Since I've never had surgery w/in 2 weeks of starting a new job, its not an issue.

For nursing school, your list of home meds would be a viable request because of the liability- if you go down at clinicals for some unknown reason, your medhx is available. For pre-employment, as noted, only as required by law/disclosure.

morte, LPN, LVN · Aug 1, 2011

to me, it is a back door attempt to find out your medical hx which they may/may not have any need to know, and may/may not use to discriminate against you.

Jenni811, RN · Aug 1, 2011

You shouldn't have to share your medications with your school.

Wouldn't be a violation if you voluntarily handed it over.

PalmTreeRN · Aug 1, 2011

I understand not wanting to disclose certain medications for fear of being judged. I definitely went through a period where I was not completely honest on all of my medical record forms. But when you start doing patient care you'll quickly see that a lot of people, take a lot of medication, for a lot of different issues/conditions and you'll see that it kind of loses its "shock factor"...its just really not that interesting. If you think the medications that you take is going to cause some kind of hype from the people reading your medical record, it won't (or at least shouldn't if they are professional and mature), but I do know where you are coming from. I see that your HIPPA question has been answered. Some of these responses have brought up the issue of not being hired due to medical history. It's not the first time I've heard about those type of situations, but it still gets me...since when does HR or anyone in the hiring process have access to your personal medical record? For instance, I take controlled substances that I am prescribed. I take a urine drug screen, the drugs show up, nurse checks off that the drug was found in my system, I give my script with Dr.'s signature, she makes a photocopy and attaches to the report, and then calls HR and tells them "I'm all clear". I always trust that my chart stays at employee health...am I being naive? How do people not get hired due to certain conditions and medications?

cherrybreeze, ADN, RN · Aug 1, 2011

It's not a HIPAA violation, as several posters have already said, but I DO think it's more information than they need to know. Other than when you have a drug test, I think it should be private. When you DO have a drug test, the info is only disclosed to the person that NEEDS to know. Like the doc who interprets the results....if what shows up on your test is consistent with a valid prescription, then the result is reported as "negative." IMO, that's all they need to know.

ZippyGBR, BSN, RN · Aug 2, 2011

Hello! I will be starting nursing school in a few weeks (YAY!) but was curious about a question on my physical. It asks us to list all of the medications we currently take. I am totally fine with handing over immunization records but isn't sharing what meds I take a HIPAA violation?

this is information for Occupational Health not for your tutors

HIPAA is not the issue if this info is mismanaged is the implications under the Equality / disability discrimination legislation ...

ZippyGBR, BSN, RN · Aug 2, 2011

Although we have this kumbaya attitude about putting all your meds down I would be cautious. There have been instances I know of where discrimination has happened due to disclosing pain and psych meds. I'm not saying it happens in all schools or jobs but it does happen. I always put down no meds and let the chips fall where they may. I guess I'm old school but it's none of their f r i c k e n business ... especially in school.
Please don't bother with the examples of life and death; I've heard em all and I've also seen a good RN destroyed due to this type of disclosure as well.

1. If aspects of your health history disclosed on an occupational health form are discussed out with that setting , that is a breach of confidentiality ... just because the managers in healthcare settings may be Health Professionals it doesn't mean they are allowed or entitled to any more information from OH than a lay person manger is ...

2. Not disclosing relevant health history is Professional misconduct and can lead to termination of employment and reporting to your professional regulator, it may also leave you open to criminal charges with regard to obtaining a pecuniary advantage by deception or however it is phrased where you are .

3. Don't try using your health issues as mitigation or extenuating circumstances - because it will become apparent you are a liar and therefore un-trustworthy and not fit for practice on that basis

4. if you don't disclose then you won't get your reasonable adaptations ...

5. if you and your health problems are covered by Equality / disability discrimination legislation it is not cheating to use it and it will get HR and the legal department treating you with kid gloves - as these cases can lead to big payouts and massive adverse publicity for the employer / education provider.