automatic suspension for civil commitment

Nurses Disabilities

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Hello, I am writing this post because I have just had my R.N. license reinstated after a year and a half automatic suspension due to a civil commitment related to my diagnosis of schizophrenia. I was scheduled to deploy with my national guard unit to Iraq and was in the process of leaving my job at a level one trauma center in the metro area when I started to become confused and unfocused. I didn't know what was going on and didn't feel safe to practice so I started to call in sick. I was trying to get a L.O.A. while I was prepping to deploy but my employer was making it difficult and along with all the other stressors, and PTSD from a previous deployment, I was not coping well and wound up leaving both my job and the national guard without going on the deployment. My mental status continued to deteriorate and I was brought to the hospital by the police on a 51/50 hold. I wasn't charged with anything and I was not violent but I was very delusional. Today I am fully recovered and on a antipsycotic med my license is fully reinstated but my problem is now how do I explain this during a job interview? I have been out of nursing for a year and a half and I have a suspension on my record. Bottom line is how do I explain this to a prospective employer?

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Specializes in med-surg, psych, ER, school nurse-CRNP.

Honesty is your friend here. Explain, but don't embellish, and assure the prospective employer that you're under treatment and are following with your doc if they ask. I'm not even sure if they can question the medical aspect, but being upfront about the suspension will look good, as it shows that you're not hiding anything.

JMO. Good luck to you.

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Would it be misleading to answer the question of "has your license ever been suspended" with yes my license was suspended due to a medical condition or if asked "why did you leave your last job" I answer it was due to an illness? I feel like coming out as a schizophrenic would invoke too much bias due to the stigma of mental illness. I want to be honest but not to the point of disclosing more information than is necessary.

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Specializes in Leadership, Psych, HomeCare, Amb. Care.

No, those answers would not be misleading. When/if asked further, you can say the medical condition is under control and would not interfere with the performance of your duties

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Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.

Is your illness well-managed? If so, you can truthfully say that your license was suspended once and/or you left a job due to a medical problem, but that reason no longer exists. Granted, psychiatric disorders don't go away, but as long as you can 'maintain' and be professional, there need be no further forays into your private life by a potential employer.

FWIW, I've been very up-front with my current employer about my own diagnosis, but I would never apply for a new position and tell the interviewer "Oh, yeah, I should probably tell you that I'm bipolar and may need special accommodations to do my job". :rolleyes: I'm not sure how I WOULD go about it, because after I reach a certain point in a cycle I can no longer hide the fact that I have a problem, and then the cat would be out of the bag for good. Thankfully I haven't had to test my theory.....at least not yet.

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My illness is very well managed on minimal medication, I have zero s/s. The only requirement from my BON is that I voluntarily participate in a health professional monitoring program that asks my doc to periodically submit a report on how my treatment is going and if I am med compliant. Thank you for all your comments, they have been very helpful!:)

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Hi! I agree with the others--be upfront about it. I, personally, am going to fully disclose, if I get an interview because I don't know about your state; but, many states disclose the specific mental illness in the Board Order online. So, when an employer does a license look up, they can read the order and find out what you have, anyway. I was private about my mental illness, until my Board order went public online. I got over that shock pretty quick (though it was painful seeing it online) and decided to take things in my own hands and tell people myself about what I have, educate them, and advocate for better mental health care and rights. It does make it harder getting hired; but from what I have heard, the person that does hire you must have saw something and really wanted you and will work with you.

Good luck!

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Specializes in Med-Surg.
Hi! I agree with the others--be upfront about it. I, personally, am going to fully disclose, if I get an interview because I don't know about your state; but, many states disclose the specific mental illness in the Board Order online. So, when an employer does a license look up, they can read the order and find out what you have, anyway. I was private about my mental illness, until my Board order went public online. I got over that shock pretty quick (though it was painful seeing it online) and decided to take things in my own hands and tell people myself about what I have, educate them, and advocate for better mental health care and rights. It does make it harder getting hired; but from what I have heard, the person that does hire you must have saw something and really wanted you and will work with you.

Good luck!

Uh, what? How is that legal, to disclose your medical information for anyone to see?

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Jeweles, we've talked about this a hundred times (or it feels like) on here. Yes, they can disclose that--they did mine. My diagnosis is in my Board Order, which is online. My Board Order can be found when verifying my license.

It is called Freedom of Information Act (FOIA); that's what they use as reasoning to disclose the information to the public. I got several copies of the Code of VA thing and they made sure that I knew that they are not breaking the law in disclosing with FOIA.

If OP would like, he can look at what his Board Order says and what information will be online and then, decide what he discloses.

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Although I have not heard of board order I have tried to verify my license through nursys and the results come up that I am UNABLE TO PRACTICE SAFELY BY REASON OF PSYCHOLOGICAL IMPAIRMENT OR MENTAL DISORDER. I hope that my status will change once the final paperwork goes through but for now it shows that I am still "unsafe".

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Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.
Although I have not heard of board order I have tried to verify my license through nursys and the results come up that I am UNABLE TO PRACTICE SAFELY BY REASON OF PSYCHOLOGICAL IMPAIRMENT OR MENTAL DISORDER. I hope that my status will change once the final paperwork goes through but for now it shows that I am still "unsafe".

I'm really sorry. There but for the grace of God go a lot of us, for until our profession regards mental illness like any other medical condition, we're going to be as welcome in nursing as ants at a picnic. :no:

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Go to MN state BON and do a license lookup on yourself. I am surprised that you didn't get a Board Order when you entered your monitoring program....hmmm, you learn something new every day.

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