Nursing school and medical problems(epilepsy and such)

Ortho_RN · Dec 11, 2001

No, I haven't heard anything about that... But would like to hear about it... You can PM me is you don't want to post on main board... Was it a first year or what??

MRed94 · Dec 12, 2001

I think she needs a lawyer....I am deaf as a doorknob without my hearing aides, and they haven't kicked me out yet...... she needs to do some serious fighting.

She is most likely on meds, and has been fior a while, and it was an isolated incident, most likely brought on by stress. Doesn't mean it will happen every day, tho.

Tell her to call a lawyer.....that is discrimination.....

Marla

crnasomeday · Dec 12, 2001

Before taking boards, most states will ask the applicant a question similar to this one asked by the Illinois state board: "Have you had or do you now have any disease or condition that interferes with your ability to perform the essential functions of your profession, including any disease or condition generally regarded as chronic by the medical community. . .that presently interferes with your ability to practice your profession?" I don't know about this student or her life of course, but if she has seizures that are not controlled well with meds, she could put not only herself at risk (imagine if she were holding a dirty needle and had a seizure), but the well-being of a patient could be at risk as well.

As much as we want to not violate the civil rights of people with conditions, such as epilepsy, and as much as we believe that people with any kind of disabilities should be afforded the same opportunities as anyone else, sometimes that is just not realistic.

I don't know about this particular case of course, but if this student was "kicked out" of the nursing program, it probably was not a decision made lightly. Having a seizure disorder is different than being hearing impaired, especially if the seizures are not well controlled with medications, which is the case for many people with epilepsy.

On a personal note, my mom is epileptic, and her seizures have never been under great control, even though she has been on meds for them for more than 30 years. She has frequent petit mal seizures, and I have seen her have more grand mal seizures than I can count. God only knows how many she really has, because she is reluctant to tell anyone about them. She is very compliant with her meds, but her disorder just isn't controlled well. Because of this, there are lots of things that she cannot do, and there's nothing that a lawyer could, or should for that matter, do to make that different. For instance, my mom cannot have a driver's license. I don't think this is a violation of her rights, because other people should not have to be in jeopardy because my mother might have a seizure behind the wheel of a car. My mother also used to be a CNA, and she did have a seizure once while transferring a patient from the commode. The patient fell and was injured. I was a little kid when this happened, so I don't know all the particulars of the incident, but soon afterwards my mom quit being a CNA. She wasn't asked to leave or fired or anything, but she was concerned that someone else might be injured again.

Robin61970 · Dec 13, 2001

I need to find out more information on this....it was a big deal for about two days, but now it has not been talked about for a while.........will let you know more as i find it out...