DMU for those who want to be a Psych Nurse

[BeOne77]

Hi, Reading this just got to thinking about my own situation. I am in the DMU program not because I diverted, used or drank alcohol but because I am taking medication for depression. How about that? I know the feelings of guilt and shame but they seem to come from the program itself and the very nature of it. I feel scrutinized, publicly made to be on the spot and financially robbed because of this program not to mention the inconvenience it is to check for drug screens every morning. I have a biological illness and no it doesn't prevent me from doing my work.. Heck, Florence nightingale suffered from depression and no one had her go into a monitoring program . What is going on in nursing today? Why do people discriminate and even stigmatize those who have mental illness esp in the nursing field? I find this outrageous. I guess if I had diabetes I'd be more palatable or more accepted. I have 4years and 10 months left of this program because I take medication and I am being singled out like I never passed my boards. I did the work and I should be respected not made out to be a potential problem. Again I don't drink or do drugs. I find this feels like blackmail. If you don't participate in the program then you don't have access to your license. Now in order to practice you must tell all about your struggles why you are in the program, etc, etc. Nothing is private anymore. Everyone knows everything. This is emotionally painful.

So when is the stigma and discrimination going to end? All I can say is this is not what I signed up for when I spent 100000 on nursing school and years of sacrifice and hard work. I'm not any different than any other nurse just because I need to take 3 pills every day.

When are people going to treat us like we are human beings and not some horror story they heard on the news. This is fear driven and unbased on any fact that people with mental illness are violent out to kill their patients or a risk. I am beside myself and its about time we see people for who they are and not what meds they are taking. Nurses with mental illness have just as much potential as their so called healthy counterparts who may in fact not be so healthy afterall when they too feel they have to get help for something and then it is strewn all over the nursing boards. Disciplinary Monitoring? For an illness. Doesn't make sense. Who's going to step up and change this?

[julius.alle]

I wish I could tell you that I understand what you're going through, but the truth is, no one will ever understand, everyone’s struggle is unique to them, but what I can do is attempt to relate. You know, life can be unfair at times but there is always a silver lining to every dark cloud. You have an insight into depression that not too many people have, there for you may be able to connect with a patient that struggles with a similar issue better then a nurse that does not have that firsthand experience with depression. If you believe you’re being discriminated against then that’s a different story, as being denied or not treated fairly due to a mental illness is highly illegal in all states.

[HunnieBadger]

It won't change until nurses as a whole change, we need to be stronger professionally and stop tearing each other apart first. Look at doctors and how when they are faced with the same issues they have no where near the same consequences. Not because they are simply doctors, but because as a whole thy support one another. Nurses have been around for quite a while but we still have a long way to go. To empower ourselves we need to empower each other. Change only happens when we make it happen.

[BeOne77]

Its the term "Disciplinary" I have a problem with like I did something wrong for seeking treatment. How can that be right? Disciplinary? What are they thinking? That's like Disciplining someone with Heart disease. Oh because you have a heart condition I am now going to have you go through 2 uds a month for the next five years. Etc. I'm floored. Like you said there is a silver lining. There should be a support group for people in the DMU only if I could find them....No one wants to admit they are in the DMU because most people actually did something that warrants discipline per se. Like diverting, drinking, etc. I want to talk to the people who are In it for mental illness. I am so sick of people thinking mental illness is some kind of weird misunderstood disease. I have to go I am getting angry and that's not where I want to be right now. Just awoke and saw your message and had to respond. So now I am going to try and think of something else rather than the board, the doctors eval me, nursing, etc. But nursing is iny heart and that's where it rips the most. Thanks for responding....

[Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN]

Some states have mandatory reporting on licensed personnel who care for the public. Is it right...no. How they get away with it without being sued for discrimination is beyond me. But they are just ensuring "safety" of the public.

They do discriminate against those with heart disease, and those who smoke, and HTN, and........that is why you must pass a physical and tell them what meds you're on.

It's sad.....((HUGS))

Check out this forum you are not alone.....Nurses With Disabilities

[tyvin, BSN, RN]

I must be out of the loop here...because you take antidepressants you are made to do the DMU?

[BeOne77]

In a nutshell, Yes and because I sought hospitalization.

[megank5183]

Could you please explain the nutshell? I cannot believe that nurses who take antidepressants are forced into DMU...If that was the case, there would hardly be any nurses left...secondly, if you were hospitalized, how did the BON find out? This is protected by strict patient privacy laws. I absolutely agree that no one, including nurses, should be stigmatized for mental health issues....but I cannot believe that you would have to restrict your license because you have run of the mill depression and are seeking appropriate treatment....

[megank5183]

and if this is the case....shame on nursing.

Could you please explain the nutshell? I cannot believe that nurses who take antidepressants are forced into DMU...If that was the case, there would hardly be any nurses left...secondly, if you were hospitalized, how did the BON find out? This is protected by strict patient privacy laws. I absolutely agree that no one, including nurses, should be stigmatized for mental health issues....but I cannot believe that you would have to restrict your license because you have run of the mill depression and are seeking appropriate treatment....

[smoup]

I too am interested in this as someone just starting nursing school and hoping to be a psych nurse. I've been on and off meds for depression since I was 14, was in-patient for PTSD-induced anorexia in 2005, and have been through two weeks intensive outpatient for PTSD. All is good now and I'm even off the meds at the moment and NOT depressed, albeit getting used to "feeling" again for the first time in years.

If I'm not going to be able to practice, I'm not going to waste my time or money on nursing school.

[BeOne77]

I was forced to release records to an evaluator hired by the state board who was evaluating my fitness who claimed he could access the records and threatened me with losing my license if I did not comply. I was investigated from a complaint against me (not while I was a nurse) after I broke a non-contact agreement innocently after being excited after graduating nursing school and called an old professor of mine to let her know I graduated. I had been in the no-contact agreement with the school because(see next sentence)and as a result they withheld my nursing degree and gave me a lesser degree a Liberal Studies Degree. This happened because I had been late to class and was hurrying around the school parking lot looking for a place to park and inadvertently parked halfway on the grass. Someone didn' t like this and had the campus police find me when I was taking a final exam and the had wanted me to go with them to explain but I refused to go with them. They had me removed. After this incident I went to another nursing school used my credits and spent another 2 years to graduate after spending 4 years initially. I had been hospitalized more than once for bipolar disorder. I can see the reader now (not run of the mill depression, oh that's different then, don't judge) Regardless, any person who made it through nursing school and passed boards who can do that should not persecuted for having a treatable illness. I have never put anyone in danger, harmed a patient or harmed myself. I simply was hospitalized voluntarily because I could not stand the depression on my own and felt that with the right medications I would be better off. Yes I have" Run of the Mill" bipolar disorder not so strange, weird or too terrible misunderstood.

Because I am now prohibited from ever visiting that campus or contacting anyone (really this is how the mentally ill are treated-banned for life. Just because of my bad parking skills and my stubbornness to leave when asked, I was investigated and when I was I was then evaluated and I was admonished to reveal my hospitalization history. I have no idea where my career is now going now that I am in the DMU but I have to hold my head up high and realize that I am dealing with a world who have misconceptions of the capabilities of the mentally ill and other nurses may not support me because of it but I went through the same schooling if not more and have yet to prove myself in the field. I think one of the important things to realize is that Florence Nightengale suffered from the same disorder which has just recently been revealed and if she could do it then so can I. Its just now in this century we are more likely to be "treated" for it where as in her time they weren't. So I guess I can say if I had put a patient in danger or was diverting and this complaint was as a result of that then I would be more willing to go into the DMU but this is just not the case. I have what most people would turn their back on me including what I would guess my fellow nurses as well because bipolar disorder just isn't palatable to most. But I guess what is most important is how we treat people in the end. That's it in a "nutshell". I could write more but I hope I am not too terribly judged here.

[BeOne77]

There may be a time when you need to reveal this like when you apply for your license. If you are not currently in tx then you may not need to reveal it.