Annual Physical - Does Your Job Require This?

[seconddegreebsn]

So I was notified by my supervisor that I was due for my annual physical. I asked what this entails and she was unable to give details. After seeing how poorly two pregnant coworkers and several nurses nearing retirement have been treated, I am extremely hesitant to share anything regarding my personal health with my employer. I perform my job with no limitations and have no diseases that would impact my employment there - everything else aside I don't really think is their business.

So I go to the physical and I'm handed a form with questions:

- what is your weight? Honey, my husband doesn't even know this and I'm not telling you. Frankly, I am not overweight, I have no obesity related illnesses, and I don't think my weight is my employer's business. They made a big stink when I refused to step on the scale and claimed it was for TB masks, but when I offered to re-do the mask fitting they backed down and said, "Well, as long as you haven't gained TOO much." That 's between me and a pint of Ben & Jerry's, thank you.

- Are you pregnant? I really hope no one answers this. It's a trap! When I am pregnant I am going to DENY until I have my FMLA approved because I have seen how they treat pregnant women at my job and it is shameful.

- What was the results of your last gyn exam? Thank you, but I prefer to not discuss my lady parts with my employer. I assure you there is nothing occurring with my lady parts that would in any way, shape or form affect my ability to perform my job. I wonder, do you ask male nurses about their last testicular exam, or did I just miss that question on the form?

- List every medication you are taking. If I was having issues with depression or anxiety that was being well controlled via medication, is that really my employer's business, especially if it doesn't affect my job performance?

The rest was making sure I was up to date on titers, testing for TB -both of which are perfectly reasonable.

Am I being overly sensitive in finding these questions far too personal? Is this typical for most places of employment?

[No Stars In My Eyes]

Just TB test and flu shot.

[brandy1017, ASN, RN]

We have a yearly health statement we are supposed to fill out. I thought it was mandatory, but also an invasion of privacy and then they wrote it was to help us as if it was voluntary so I haven't filled it out since. It didn't ask for weight other than if your weight had changed 10-15 pounds or more r/t tb mask. Well as far as that goes, there is only two sizes and if you don't fit in the mask then you have to wear a respirator. They made me wear a respirator because I could smell the sacharine one time and it was never cleaned. I now just wear a mask.

Incidentally they offer to help you find a job to protect you from disease if you have HIV, yet they don't offer to find a better job if you have back problems. Isn't that the more likely scenario!

Personally employee health has been useless in my opinion. When people were getting injured left and right their solution was a cheap plastic garbage bag liner. How does that prevent an injury, first question were you using the liner. Excuse me you still have to turn the patient back & forth to put them on the liner and then again to take them off! How is that useful! Didn't bother to advocate for lifts, not sit to stands or ceiling lifts, didn't bother to offer hover mats, no just cheap plastic garbage bag liners. It's an insult to call them employee health! We finally got a sit to stand we were the last hospital in the system, more than ten years later from when we were supposed to get them! Had a remodel and the manager flat out refused to put any ceiling lifts in, we have fancy tiled bathrooms, but no ceiling lifts! Finally we are just recently getting hover mats. I simply don't get people out of bed if they can't walk, problem solved! Why should I hurt myself because they refuse to provide adequate lift equipment! I always get a hover mat now for morbidly obese patients, but I've actually had a couple patients refuse to let us use them! Excuse me, why should I hurt myself because you feel uncomfortable with the hover mat! That is not my problem! I refused to take care of them after that and luckily I wasn't given them as patients so there was no confrontation.

[brandy1017, ASN, RN]

While employee health doesn't weigh you we now have a wellness program where you are weighed and measured and blood taken, asking you every personal question under the sun and if you don't go along you have to pay a penalty of $25-50 a month depending on which insurance plan you have. Next year it will go up even more if you don't meet your wellness goal of so many points. Of course they don't even bother to tell you what the penalty will be. It just disgusts me! So most of the people are running around with fit bits, you have to do 10,000 steps a day to get so many points. All this for our health. Well as nurses we usually walk that much on a 12 hour shift anyway. If you are perfectly healthy in every weigh you automatically reach the goal points without any effort, but the rest of us have to jump thru all sorts of hoops to not be penalized! I think it is crap! Also flu shot is now mandatory, only one nurse challenged it and had to wear a mask for half the year, while waiting to see if they would approve her or if she would be fired. At the last minute they approved her, but I wouldn't want to have to wear a mask for a 12 hour shift for half the year! I wonder if someone will sue if they get guillain barre from the shot?

[hppygr8ful, ASN, RN, EMT-I]

My employer lets us get it at our PCP physician. My doctor does give me an exam that I get yearly anyway. Writes a ststment as to my general health and ability to perform all activities of the job. Seals it with a kiss and sends it off. She doesn't mention meds or past health conditions that have been resolved or current ones like my fibromyalgia unless we both agree it would affect my ability to do the work.

Hppy

[BSNbeauty, BSN, RN]

My job requires it. Its really not as much as,a big deal as you are making it.

[sistrmoon, BSN, RN]

I've noticed certain hospitals (edited to remove names but they are big players in NYC and own many of the outer borough hospitals) require applicants to sign a form stating they do not have a condition that would bar you from being able to perform the job. Among the listed conditions are physical handicaps that hinder ambulation, seizure disorders, blindness/deafness and depression. Yes depression. Last I checked, most depression is treatable through therapy and medication but according to those facilities it would make you ineligible for hire and you are required to sign a statement saying you do not have nor have previously had depression (not sure how they're going to background check that). Given that's the current climate, I probably would never disclose any sort of psych history to the facility where I work unless it was one that required me to take leave of absence for treatment.

That sounds like a lawsuit waiting to happen.

I've been a patient at my own hospital and we pull pharmacy records through our EHR system. I guess my point is it wouldn't be too hard to be caught in a lie here.

Regardless, I've dealt with depression/anxiety/OCD most of my life and it's never hindered my ability to work. Some of the meds I could see might, but I've gotten off anything with bad side effects pretty quickly. Probably idealistic but you would think a healthcare facility would not further stigmatize a condition like that.

[seconddegreebsn]

prnqaday - Really? Asking people about their gyn exams isn't a big deal? Wanna tell me your last exam results? No big deal. You pregnant? How far along? Any STDs?

Last time I checked I'm a nurse, not a prostitute. I don't use my lady parts to perform my job, why do they need to know about it?

[kbrn2002, ADN, RN]

No required annual health exam but an insurance related exam. Not mandatory but the penalty if you don't participate puts you in the lowest tier of coverage. On the other hand if you do participate and your "numbers" don't improve the following year you lose the better level of coverage. Also if you use nicotine in any form you automatically get the lowest level of coverage regardless of other factors. Since I am a smoker and automatically get the lowest coverage I refuse to participate in the program.

[TiffyRN, BSN, PhD]

Nobody beats what my employer asks for. . .

A multi-page survey asking if you have had any of the following conditions including:

Heart disease

HTN

Fibromyalgia

Bleeding disorders

Arthritis

Any of a list of about 20 orthopedic conditions

Complete an anxiety scale (HAD scale)

How much to do you smoke (or don't)?

How much do you drink?

Under the TB screening, there is a multi-page survey asking . . .

Do you have seizures, asthma, allergies, diabetes, lung cancer, broken ribs, COPD, Heart attack, stroke, heart failure, leg swelling, "other" heart problems, heartburn, heart "skipping", anxiety, weakness, fatigue, ?

I have a well-controlled heart rhythm issue. I am so offended by this survey, I generally answer all the questions with "under MD care, please contact my MD regarding details". Knowing they aren't going to subject themselves to jumping through HIPAA hoops to do that. The Employee Health nurse says to me: "They don't like this that you did". I says, well, that's my private medical information. My MD sees me regularly, do you need a statement from him that I'm fit for duty?. No answer to that.

I don't think they asked about my GYN exams though. . .

[Altra, BSN, RN]

The only time I have had a job that required an annual physical was, ironically, a non-healthcare position. It included requiring age-appropriate cancer screening testing. I'll let you figure out the details.

[Ruas61, BSN, RN]

My job requires it. Its really not as much as,a big deal as you are making it.

Asking about your lady bits?

Really, your employer needs to know about your lady parts? Really?

Are they asking the males about their member?

[nekozuki, LPN]

Wow. We get annuals, but it's not invasive like that! A doctor just ensured that we have full range of motion, can bend/squat, basic neuro checks, listens to lungs, palpates abdomen, checks vision, etc, stuff we need to be able to perform our jobs. Height/weight/VS are charted, but that isn't on the physical itself, it's just for the office records. No questions about meds, weight gain/loss, gyno stuff, etc. Most of the nurses in my company are semi-retired and over 50, and the physicals haven't caused anyone to lose their job. But since we work independently in PDN, it's just a very basic way of ensuring we're able to do our jobs.