Can one become a nurse if one has Genital Herpes?

Nursing Students Pre-Nursing

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My friend and I are wanting to join the nursing program at our local community college and she may have genital herpes. She is still awaiting the test results. We are really wanting to do this together for one anothers support, but is it possible to become a nurse if she does have genital herpes?

Please reply

When I took the physical form to my doctor's office, I crossed out the lines for genital and rectal evaluation and wrote "On privacy grounds I decline to share this information. It will NEVER have any bearing on my nursing practice."

No one ever called me about it.

Diseased or not diseased, normal or malformed, it's none of their d... business.

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I don't know of any field of nursing that involves rubbing your uncovered perineum against a patient's, so I don't anticipate it'd be a problem.

ROFLMAO @ Methylene!! :bow: I strangely enough, have also never heard of a field of Nursing where you would be pant less/panty less & rubbing you genitals on the patient .... BUT maybe we're under-informed!

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Specializes in FNP, Peds, Epilepsy, Mgt., Occ. Ed.
pagandeva2000 said:
I just would not mention this fact in the classroom, though...to ensure your own privacy.

In fact, your classmates would probably consider it a favor not to hear about it.

You would not believe what some people will tell (or show) during classroom discussions!

As someone else posted, herpes is quite common. If I gave it any thought at all, I would assume that a fair number of nurses has herpes. I can't say that it's ever crossed my mind to even wonder. It should make absolutely no difference, work-wise, and I don't really care to know.

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Specializes in Community Health, Med-Surg, Home Health.
methylene said:
For our physical (form supplied by the school) we had to detail all health issues and disease histories. I suppose you could lie by omission and no one would know better, but that'd be an ethical call you'd have to make (privacy versus honesty).

To be honest, based on things I have witnessed, I would not mention it at all. If it were herpes whitlow, where it is located on the hands, I can see, but genital herpes would not be passed along by standard nursing practices, and I have also seen physical forms being laid around carelessly as a student who happened to walk in at the wrong time. Information like that laying around would open the doors to judgemental behavior if seen by the wrong eyes.

1 Votes
Specializes in Community Health, Med-Surg, Home Health.
santhony44 said:
In fact, your classmates would probably consider it a favor not to hear about it.

You would not believe what some people will tell (or show) during classroom discussions!

As someone else posted, herpes is quite common. If I gave it any thought at all, I would assume that a fair number of nurses has herpes. I can't say that it's ever crossed my mind to even wonder. It should make absolutely no difference, work-wise, and I don't really care to know.

I have also seen insane confessions happen in nursing school by people who wore the rose colored glasses and assumed that because they were in a learning environment that speaks of maturity and privacy that they would not be ridiculed or judged. Heck, I know some physicians that are married and have multiple lovers that refuse to wear condoms...:no::nono: Education does not always curtail human pettiness and behavior.

I say keep your business to yourself. You will have to hang around these people for a few years and the less they know of your personal business, the better.

1 Votes

I know I will probably get flamed for being so blunt. I get phone calls all day long asking some of the most inane and stupid questions. Do people really not have any common sense any more. I hope that if you do get into the nursing program that you begin to use some critical thinking skills. Even before I became a nurse I always tried to think things out before calling the doctor's office to ask questions. Did you really give any thought to this subject before you came here and asked this (IMHO) dumb question.

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Specializes in DOU.

I can certainly understand why she might ask. We have to have physicals to get into RN school, and that STD information might well be included on that form. How should someone with no medical background know what is asked if she's never seen the form?

I think (some) people should try to be a bit less preachy. No one knows everything.

1 Votes
pagandeva2000 said:
I have also seen insane confessions happen in nursing school by people who wore the rose colored glasses and assumed that because they were in a learning environment that speaks of maturity and privacy that they would not be ridiculed or judged. Heck, I know some physicians that are married and have multiple lovers that refuse to wear condoms...:no::nono: Education does not always curtail human pettiness and behavior.

I say keep your business to yourself. You will have to hang around these people for a few years and the less they know of your personal business, the better.

We were asked to "tell us something about yourself" at my clinical group. I kept it as brief as possible so as not to offend the instructor. How funny that this instructor is the one who made my ns life a living hell. How was I to know what I said that made her decide to put me on her "get rid of" list? Maybe it was the color of my hair? My eyes? The fact that I had a family? I'll never know. It's always best to keep as much of your business as possible to yourself.

1 Votes
methylene said:

I don't know of any field of nursing that involves rubbing your uncovered perineum against a patient's, so I don't anticipate it'd be a problem.

I'm sorry...I know this is a serious question, but that was so hilarious and unexpected; I laughed so hard I almost peed my pants.....:chuckle

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Leave it off the form. Your genitals are private. It's none of your nursing school's business as it will have no effect on your ability to perform nursing duties.

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Specializes in NICU.

I skipped the pelvic part of my physical too. There was absolutely no point to it, and my NP didn't have time that day anyhow. As long as universal precautions are observed, it'll be a-okay. When I started my first nursing job my bf at the time had MRSA that he couldn't get rid of, and Occ Health told me it was fine as long as I observed good hand hygiene.

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As with HSVI (cold sores), HSVII (genital herpes) can present on any part of the body and is not always restricted to the genital area. HSVII can appear on the face and other areas of the body.

I have HSVI due to contact with the virus as a baby and it hasn't had an affect on my nursing studies so far. Additionally I have spoken with instructors that are working as nurses that have HSV and they have never had a problem because of it.

The only thing I would recommend is being aware of safety precautions when an outbreak occurs. In my case the typical outbreak site is around the mouth and nose, but I have had outbreaks on the neck and other parts of the body. The only time it has been of any issue during nursing school so far was when we were practising oral hygiene and I made sure the person that was using me to practice on was made aware of it and wore gloves.

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