Bipolar and tpapn

[Foxynurse5006]

Hi

I am a Texas Nurse and recently got diagnosed dual diagnosis bipolar disorder. I never told my psychiatrist/Nurse practitioner that I am a nurse. If I tell them I'm a nurse Are they obligated to report me? If I decided not to tell them I'm a nurse how will TPAPN or the BON ever find out if I keep it my secret?

Thanks

[3peas]

No they are not obligated to report you to the BON. They are only obligated to report suspicion of abuse. A third party to report to the board would normally be your employer if your diagnosis impaired your nursing abilities on the job-psychotic episode or something or if someone showed up to work drunk.

[Eris Discordia BSN, RN]

I would add that some inpatient psych facilities will report known nurses for having an inpatient stay for mental illness..mainly, the one I work at. It's beyond a crap thing to do, but for whatever reason, our corporate has a policy that they report any healthcare provider, (nurse, physician, whatever) who is admitted for an inpatient hospital stay for mental illness to the patient's regulatory body. If you ever go inpatient, I definitely would not divulge that you are a nurse.

[catsmeow1972, BSN, RN]

I would add that some inpatient psych facilities will report known nurses for having an inpatient stay for mental illness..mainly, the one I work at. It's beyond a crap thing to do, but for whatever reason, our corporate has a policy that they report any healthcare provider, (nurse, physician, whatever) who is admitted for an inpatient hospital stay for mental illness to the patient's regulatory body. If you ever go inpatient, I definitely would not divulge that you are a nurse.

This kind of thing just blows my mind (like a lot of stuff associated with this ****.) A person could wind up inpatient for a reason that has NOTHING to do with thier job and is transitional, perhaps due to family stress (death of spouse, child, etc for example) and the facility takes it upon themselves to destroy thier livelihood on top of that. What the ??? The only thing I can think of is that whatever "executive" made that policy operates under the assumption that these programs are helpful and has no idea, or doesn't care how harmful they can be.....or is part of the feeder line into the problem. I dunno, I am feeling conspiracy theory-ish this morning. Regardless, it seems a gigantic violation of HIPPAA to be doing that. Yet another reason why I would NEVER advise anyone to utilize these things. Way to drive a call for help underground.....very helpful to the patients, if indeed one might be a danger to oneself or the patients....

I myself am so sorry I EVER got anywhere near this. In hindsight, I wish I had just slunk off and gotten treatment, gotten better and returned to work when I was ready. I was never inpatient psych and I had a regular psych doc who I knew would not have done me like this. My whole nightmare started with my own call to the program crooks. How could I have been so stupid?

[SpankedInPittsburgh, DNP, RN]

I had a DUI. I didn't so much as reach out for help from the monitoring folks & the BON as I reported out of a sense of professional duty. For those of you who self-reported any issue on your own I'm very sorry. Its shameful the way these entities treat nurses who never had an issue at work. Essentially you reach for a lifesaver from your trusted profession and some hideous creature throws you a cinder block instead.

[Persephone Paige, ADN]

I've seen ( and heard of a few ) that get arrested, pulled over, intervened on and scream out, "I'M A NURSE!" Like that's going to stop someone from hauling you in? I always cringe and think, "boy, are you gonna regret that later." I guess every person is different and their backgrounds influence how they react in a stressful situation. I only ever disclosed when my back was up against the wall. Not because I knew anything resembling legalities in the situation, but because the choice between not disclosing vs- disclosing was less appealing ( the consequences ). I just don't like anyone knowing my business. Aaaannnddd... all that's over because I'm on the NPDB site. One day, I hope I can be in stealth mode again.

[catsmeow1972, BSN, RN]

I have never used the "I'm a nurse" shtick to weasel out of a speeding ticket, generally because well...When I get stopped, I am speeding. The officer finds out that I'm a nurse because my license plate is a vanity plate that says my initials-RN. There was one time when the officer came back to the window and said "are you a nurse?" Me: umm, yeah... he said "I don't give nurses tickets because I might need you one day, as he hands me a warning. That was cool because that would have been one expensive ticket.

There was a time when I was proud to say I was a nurse. Now I am not so sure I want to advertise it. With police there's that 'thin blue line' thing. It would be nice if the powers that be supported and advocated for us like that, instead of kicking us to the curb like this....