So I have a lot working against me. I flunked out of my first year of college as a freshman. I had health issues both physical, and mental which I will get to later. I retook those classes, and my cumulative GPA after my last A in a prereq is now around 3.4, and I might be able to get it up to 3.5 before applying after taking my last prereq at community college for the ADN program I am applying to. I know nursing is very competitive. I suffer from severe depression it got so bad I started to suffer psychosis as a result. I was having delusions related to musical lyrics which I know is quite a common symptom of mental illness. I realize that now, but didn't realize it then. Had I done more research I might have saved myself a lot of time, and pain. I was hospitalized twice for it, and misdiagnosed. Now that I am on anti-depressants the psychosis is gone my psychiatrist thinks there is no reason for any setbacks as long as I remain constructive with my life, and stay on the medication. I KNOW ITS BAD, but I would like serious advice on how I should handle the situation do I come forward, or keep my mouth shut. I am leaning towards keeping my mouth shut, but I want to be honest if I get an interview this fall. I also have had chron's disease, and a lung abscess the reason I want to become a nurse is to help others who have been suffering from chronic physical illness. I developed chron's my first semester as a freshman when I flunked out. I have had depression for near a decade now, but went undiagnosed because I was to proud, and stupid to seek help until it was at the life ruining stage. I am trying to turn the negatives in my life into positives, by becoming a nurse, but I have a lot working against me. Like flunking out in my first semester. How do I prove I have the situation under control, capable, and competent if I am lucky enough to snag an interview with the board of nurses. Don't tell me you shouldn't pursue this because I am determined to pursue it regardless. My counselors think I am a good candidate, but they are not aware I was hospitalized for psychiatric reasons. Its a period of my life I want to leave firmly buried for obvious reasons, but I know its a mark against me if it comes up. Do I get a letter of mental competency from my psychiatrist? Do I not even bring it up? My grades are up across the board in my prereqs despite being hospitalized with a lung abscess, and missing two weeks my first semester taking prereqs. I have put to much effort into this to just give up, so serious advice on how to handle my situation is appreciated. Well the cat is now really out of the bag. Sorry just needed to vent, my life has been a series of setbacks which I am trying to turn into positives. If you are going to tell me I wouldn't want you taking care of patients with your condition, you don't know me very well. I am highly intelligent, motivated, empathetic, and compassionate. My life experiences have taught me to do the very best I am capable of because I may never get another opportunity. You have no idea how much I want this, because I have been on the patient side of things. It really made me bitter, upset, and angry. The nurses however where all wonderful. That is why I want to do this so badly.
OP if I'm wrong in your case, my apology, and of course please correct me.
No that correctly sums it up. I was finding double meaning in casual remarks, and lyrics. Particularly associated with music. The episodes where triggered by particular songs on the radio. Songs I ironically now enjoy, now that I have broken them down for what they are. Songs that have no relation to me.
Do not tell the school anything. However you will likely have to tell the BON and they can keep you from going to school. Be prepared to fight for your spot if you are accepted to the program. The BON can be a bother about stuff like this.
Do not tell the school anything. However you will likely have to tell the BON and they can keep you from going to school. Be prepared to fight for your spot if you are accepted to the program. The BON can be a bother about stuff like this.
Getting into a nursing program is the easy part. It is getting the license after if the BON becomes aware of a psyche hospitalization. The BON is not on the nurses side, they are concerned with the safety of the general public. There was a poor nurse grad on here a while back who wasn't able to practice because she admitted she had been hospitalized for a suicide attempt. She was doing volunteer work waiting for approval and I'm not sure if she ever got approved or if even approved with stipulations. I don't know if she ever succeeding in actually working as a nurse. That is the main problem in this situation. If you tell the truth about your personal mental health problems to the college and the BON you might be going to school for nothing. There is no guarantee you will be able to get your license. I would be inclined to lie assuming my medical records were private and not made public, but there are risks going this route if one were exposed somehow.
This may be too technical for some, but this is from the actual application for a nursing license in the state of Washington. I have bolded the part that applies to conditions that have been treated and are under management. Many people have the medical conditions listed but have them under control such that they do not limit one's ability to practice with reasonable skill and safety. I have Rheumatoid Arthritis and am under sufficient medical management that I am one heck of a practicing nurse.
DOH 669-321 July 2015
Page 2 of 4
1.
Do you have a medical condition which in any way impairs or limits your ability to practice your profession with reasonable skill and safety? If yes, please attach explanation.
Medical Conditionâ€
includes physiological, mental or psychological conditions or disorders, such as, but not limited to orthopedic, visual, speech, and hearing impairments, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis, cancer, heart disease, diabetes, intellectual disabilities, emotional or mental illness, specific learning disabilities, HIV disease, tuberculosis, drug addiction, and alcoholism.
If you answered yes to question 1, explain:
1a.
How your treatment has reduced or eliminated the limitations caused by your medical condition.
1b.
How your field of practice, the setting or manner of practice has reduced or eliminated the limitations caused by your medical condition.
Note:
If you answered yes†to question 1, the licensing authority will assess the nature, severity, and the duration of the risks associated with the ongoing medical condition and the ongoing treatment to determine whether your license should be restricted, conditions imposed, or no license issued.
The licensing authority may require you to undergo one or more mental, physical or psychological examination(s). This would be at your own expense. By submitting this application, you give consent to such an examination(s). You also agree the examination report(s) may be provided to the licensing authority. You waive all claims based on confidentiality or privileged communication. If you do not submit to a required examination(s) or provide the report(s) to the licensing authority, your application may be denied.
Some of the comments about the health history required by nursing schools and involvement with the BON even prior to acceptance or graduation are quite surprising to me. Licensure with a criminal background is a totally different story, of course. I only mention this because I've seen mental health issues conflated with some sort of criminal/public record history on other sites/posts.
My BSN program and the other programs I applied to required no medical history beyond providing up to date vaccinations, which is the source of my surprise. There were no mental health inquiries whatsoever, and I applied to five different programs in my region, researching many more. There wasn't even a hint of consideration given to medical history, let alone mental health history. At most there was mention of the physical and emotional demands of the nursing programs in question, as well as clear policies regarding drug use and criminal background.
I'm in WA, so at licensing time there was so need to disclose anything that didn't impair my ability to practice safely (as Mavrick illustrated above) My first job did not ask anything regarding my medical history. Again, vaccinations, drug test. Some respiratory questions regarding being fitted for different respirators. You could self identify as having a disability if you were seeking accommodation and chose to do so. My employer actually has several in depth policies and statements regarding how it treats employees with illness of any description, how much they support employee privacy, and the culture seems to really support that. (I've been involved with this organization in varying capacities over the years.)
WA maintains an up to date website and even links to statutes for those researching requirements for licensure. I would encourage you, OP, to do some thorough research directly at the source, wherever you may be. It's oftentimes not as simple as disclose or not. I'm not advocating dishonesty, but I would hate for you to divulge a ton of information when you were really not required to do so. I used to work psych/mental health, and believe me, there were patients with all manner of professional licensure who were able to continue their careers with the appropriate stabilization techniques in place. Good luck!
I can think of twonurses off the top of my head that I know were hospitalized for mental illness of one sort or another before they became nurses. They are both nurses now. If I know two, as a baby nurse, then there are lots. FYI, they are both great nurses and I would put myself in their care before I would put myself in the care of a lot of nurses who I don't know that about.
All this to say: your past is what you make of it. It sounds like you are trying to make something good of it, so good on you. If you (and a licensed professional counselor/psychiatrist) believe you to be capable of nursing, then I wouldn't emphasize it in interviews. I would, however, make sure that I had a licensed professional who I trusted that I could work with during nursing school because it is a whole new level of stress.
I was told in my state that if it is no longer an issue for me, and that I can get a letter of mental competency from a psychiatrist. So if I am at that point where I can get that letter I need not check yes. That I would check no on the form that asks if I have any psychiatric disabilities. Because it is no longer an issue for me. I am going to answer truthfully if asked directly about the situation however. I intend to talk about why I want to be a nurse, if I get an interview however if I am allowed. Yes I am trying to turn my negatives into positives. By giving back to the community that nursed me back to health. That is all one can do I suppose. Also I do have my psychiatrist who I trust implicitly it was him who finally helped me to overcome my depression after years of struggling with it. I still get sad sometimes, but no longer the I don't want to get out of bed kind of depression I used to struggle with. Now I spring out of bed each morning looking forward to class, and get anxious when I am not doing something working towards a constructive goal. I love my classes. Particularly the biology ones.
I can think of twonurses off the top of my head that I know were hospitalized for mental illness of one sort or another before they became nurses. They are both nurses now. If I know two, as a baby nurse, then there are lots. FYI, they are both great nurses and I would put myself in their care before I would put myself in the care of a lot of nurses who I don't know that about.
All this to say: your past is what you make of it. It sounds like you are trying to make something good of it, so good on you. If you (and a licensed professional counselor/psychiatrist) believe you to be capable of nursing, then I wouldn't emphasize it in interviews. I would, however, make sure that I had a licensed professional who I trusted that I could work with during nursing school because it is a whole new level of stress.
But did they tell the BON about their prior hospitalizations? That is the point because if it is brought up then you are left in limbo and may end up not being given the license that you went to school for and get a BSN. It's a hell of a place to be in especially after spending all the time and money getting the degree!
The reality is many nurses have health problems from HTN, DM to anxiety and depression, but if they are already practicing they are usually in the clear. It is when you self report these problems at the time of licensure that you may find yourself unable to get a license to practice. It isn't fair, but the BON doesn't care about the nurses, just the general public.
I also have dealt with depression and anxiety. I was struggling with answering certain questions on my physical paperwork regarding this but I decided to be honest about it. I was thanked for my honesty. That was it. Nothing else ever came of it. The reason they ask these thing is because if something happens and you start to struggle, they are aware of it and will work with you. If you don't, then they might just think you're a flake and will be less willing to help you out, especially since you've known this has been something you have dealt with for a decade.
Be honest. It will pay off. There is no reason this would hold you back so stop framing it that way. Use it as a way to demonstrate your ability in overcoming challenges. Make it positive and make it work to your benefit. Don't hide it. You have nothing to be ashamed of.
What la_chic said! Hide nothing from your nursing school. My school let's prospective students make an appointment with an advisor and faculty is 100% committed to helping students to succeed. (They will cut a student lose if s/he doesn't meet minimum qualifications because they take their obligations to the profession seriously, but even then, they'll go the extra mile to help students fix deficits so they can return.)
Wishing you the best of luck on your path. I think you have much to offer, having walked in the shoes. One of my major motivations for my late-life career change to nursing is to work with diabetics after having experienced less than stellar patient care for my Type I diabetes. The best endocrinologist I ever had, light years beyond anyone else, was also a Type 1 diabetic. (Apologies to the "person first" school of thought.)
The advice to frame your answers ahead of time is excellent. I hope you think about answers that address how you have overcome your challenges, learned and gained skills that will be valuable to your program and/or employer (including empathy.) I truly believe that if you can do this, you will not need to "fake it." You will be on fire with the knowledge of what you have to offer.
As the wonderful Robert Bly said, "Always, always cry for what you want."
Adele_Michal7, ASN, RN
893 Posts
What are delusions caused by musical lyrics?