Is this weird? New employee occupational health.

[NightNerd, MSN, RN]

Just curious about others' experiences. Just had an occ health employment for a new job, and it was honestly one of the most, um, personal experiences I've ever had at work. They had me wear a gown for a musculoskeletal assessment, which I've never been asked to do before and thought was a little odd. They also had an awful lot of questions about my medications, including herbal supplements, vitamins, etc. Like they had me fill out a list and then asked me to have my pharmacy send them a list of prescriptions as well. I expected to answer a few questions and give a urine sample for drug testing, but this was on another level. Is this weird? Anyone else have similar experiences?

[Here.I.Stand, BSN, RN]

No.... that sounds like an epic invasion of privacy

[ruby_jane, BSN, RN]

One time back in the 90s I had to demonstrate that I could lift the 25 pounds I said I could lift in my interview...

The pharmacy thing? Hm. The gown thing? Ew. Another level sounds like it - actually it sounds like life insurance policy screening.

[Nurse SMS, MSN, RN]

I would decline to answer. They don't have a right to my medical history nor my medication list. The hospital gown thing is bizarre.

[llg, PhD, RN]

27 minutes ago, Nurse SMS said:

I would decline to answer. They don't have a right to my medical history nor my medication list. The hospital gown thing is bizarre.

That is not exactly true. If Occupational Health does not share your personal information with your actual supervisor (and a lot of other folks within the system), then Occ Health is allowed to screen for certain things, such as meds. They just can't share that information. There are restrictions on who they can share it with. The institution just has to meet certain standards assuring that your private information is kept private and not shared throughout the institution.

[Nurse Carol]

Only at the VA have I experienced something like this. Seems a little weird alright. Next thing they will want your DNA!

[NightNerd, MSN, RN]

I guess I can understand them wanting to know if someone is on certain medications that could affect their job, or if there is a valid prescription for any controlled substance that shows up on a drug test. I honestly thought it was weirder that they insisted on knowing vitamins, herbal remedies, anything OTC like Tylenol. And yeah, the gown thing was kinda odd - like, you saw me walk in here, what more do you need to know about how I move?

[Golden_RN, MSN]

Last time I had an evaluation like this I just had to fill out a basic questionnaire, demonstrate that I could lift X number of pounds & do a duck walk (in scrubs).

I do find the request for documentation from a pharmacy strange & invasive.

[Lunah, MSN, RN]

Yes, when I went to work for the Army as a civilian nurse. We won't even talk about the Army Nurse Corps commissioning physical! They know you better than you know yourself by the end of that one, haha.