Entering nursing school with an existing mental illness.

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Hi everyone. I've just been accepted to nursing school, which I'm extremely happy about. I received a health care form to be completed by my doctor and myself. My concern is the area regarding mental health issues. I have been being treated for depression for some time, and my doctor thinks I may have bipolar disorder. I'm afraid that when she discloses this information, that it may affect my acceptance into school. Again, I have already been accepted, but I'm worried about them changing their minds. Do I have anything to worry about?

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Why would your Dr. disclose this? I have clinical depression and have been in NS for 3 terms now. No one ever asked.

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On the health care information sheet, there is a question regarding whether their are "any mental or emotional concerns to be aware of". This is in the section to be completed by my physician. I would just assume not disclose this information, but I may have no choice if she chooses to disclose the information.

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Specializes in geriatrics, orthopedics, neuro, PACU.

Hey jonb,

If your school does get the information, I don't believe it should affect your acceptance into nursing school. Most schools are very accommodating about making sure to help students with any situation. I have known a lot of people who are in their senior year at school, with depression/anxiety and they have not had any trouble. They just had to be honest with their professors about the accommodations needed for exam times, etc.

In my psych nursing class last semester, we had an amazing guest speaker who is diagnosed with schizophrenia. She told us about how she struggled with it from a young age, and was not diagnosed until high school. She decided to go to nursing school, and now works as a nurse-managing her life well. By the end of her lecture, we were all very moved but it just goes to show that with determination and hard work, anything is possible! If you are interested, the speakers name was Brooke Katz and she wrote a book about her experiences called I Think I Scared Her.

Good luck in school!,

alliecat11011

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Specializes in IMCU.

Doctors have a great deal of latitude in how they answer these. If your condition is stable and has been for a while she/he might not consider it a "concern".

I completely understand you pause. I actually couldn't get an appointment with my doctor in time for the form to be filled in so I went to a place and paid for a physical. At the time I was on an antidepressant and told the doctor. He asked "is it working" I told him yes...so he put nothing in the "concerns" category.

It was a Concentra clinic.

My opinion...and only my OPINION is, unless it may make you unsafe or you need special accommodations, I don't think you should disclose this information. There are no accommodations I can imagine you would want for this condition. How can you be sure it won't be disclosed to your instructors? Etc etc. Frankly, unless your doctor can be specific about his/her concerns and justify them she can't just put it on the form.

The truth is that depression should NOT exclude you from nursing school as a matter of course.

You need to speak with your doctor about this form and not just send it in to be completed. Make an appointment to see her specifically about your depression and discuss it then. Presumably she knows NS is a goal of yours.

Like I said "concerns" can be interpreted in many ways. Worst case go to a place like Concentra and have a physical. It will cost 100 or so bucks but you don't need to mess with it too much. Well worth the money not to have any "flag" on you health form. I wouldn't mention to a different doctor that you might be bipolar. Might be is not a diagnosis.

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I would not worry so much about school but I know that you may have a issue with getting a job in nursing if you have certain conditions and can have problems getting the license its self. I know that when my mom was looking into reinstating her RTL there was a list of things that if you have or had you could not be licensed or you had to wait so many years to see its fixed. I don't know what all it was so you may want to look into that.

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Specializes in Peri-op/Sub-Acute ANP.

If your doctor simply "thinks" you might have bipolar, yet you have not been diagnosed by a mental health professional, then I would absolutely not disclose this information at all. Until you have received an official diagnosis by an appropriately trained mental health professional it is merely speculation and is nobody's business.

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I hate the way they ask that question..."concerns"? But, since they asked it that way, it leaves plenty of room for your doc to answer honestly that there are no areas of concern. They don't ask for your diagnosis and they certainly don't ask about what your doc may suspect. If you are following treatment recommendations and your condition is stable, there should be no areas of concern that your school needs to be informed of.

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Specializes in Onc/Med-Surg, ER, Nursing Supervisor.

As part of our nursing program, we have to attend a board of nursing hearing. At the hearing, a nurse that was in front of the board for drug use had to tell them that she was Bipolar. She is compliant with her meds, and her doctor as well as the state psych evaluator said she was competent to practice. I would hope if the state board is ok with bipolar, that your school will be as well.

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Specializes in IMCU.
As part of our nursing program, we have to attend a board of nursing hearing. At the hearing, a nurse that was in front of the board for drug use had to tell them that she was Bipolar. She is compliant with her meds, and her doctor as well as the state psych evaluator said she was competent to practice. I would hope if the state board is ok with bipolar, that your school will be as well.

Please don't take offense but I don't think a drug abuser up before the nursing board has anything to do with this issue -- even if they were bipolar.

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In my state, schools ask this because if you have certain mental health issues, you need to fill out a Declaratory order that goes to the Board of Nursing and they decide if you can or cannot be a nurse. It can take months for my state BON to review them, so it's sugggested that you start the process at the beginning of nursing school instead of waiting until you've graduated and then you can't take your boards because the BON hasn't decided your case yet.

In all honesty, I'm not sure how they would find out about a mental illness diagnosis. Criminal history is easy, just run a background check, but medical records, not so much.

Here's a link to my state's form; it might make more sense than me.

http://www.bne.state.tx.us/olv/pdfs/DOapp.pdf

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When filling out forms for school or employment, my doctor has never felt it necessary to divulge medical information that had no bearing on my ability to be a student or do the job. If it isn't an issue, the doctor won't make it an issue. Most of them are wise enough to take this action when filling out these forms. Ask your doctor what they will or will not put on the form.

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