Should I disclose a medical condition?

NurseDiane · Oct 17, 2015

I wouldn't disclose any type of medical condition or disability until AFTER you have the job. It is not necessary for a job candidate to reveal any disability/condition at the time of interview. I wouldn't give a prospective employer ANY reason not to hire me, and a medical condition/disability is one, even though legally it's not supposed to be. Nurses aren't even paid for overtime anymore, so no facility is going to pay for any type of accommodation for a medical condition/disability.

Since your absence from nursing had to do with your medical condition/disability, I wouldn't say one word about that either. A prospective employer won't hire you if there is a chance that you may get sick again & they'd have to let you go out on short-term or long-term disability. A facility doesn't want to invest the money to train a nurse that will be going out on disability. In an interview tell them that the gap in employment was BY CHOICE, not necessity. Tell them that you were in a place in your life where you didn't have to work----you stayed home to take care of your kids/spouse/elderly parent, you decided to try another career for a while that was out of nursing, etc.----and now you want to get back into nursing. If you say anything in a cover letter, keep it on the positive---mention that you were out of nursing for 7 years by your own choosing, that you took a refresher course and have kept abreast of the changes in nursing and advances in healthcare. Tell them that you haven't forgotten what you learned before you stopped working as a nurse & don't feel that picking everything back up again would be a problem.

Hospicegal90 · Oct 18, 2015

This interests me greatly as I too, have been away from nursing for 6 years due to a medical issue. Thanks to advances in treatment I have been given my life back! My saving treatment was the implantation of an intrathecal pain pump. I am finding that other medical professionals are quite interested in the device and my story. I have talked to quite a few peers who agree with my take on this issue. I am going to be 100% honest about my absence and tell potential employers about my history of severe pain stemming from multiple spine surgeries and the miracle that is this pump. My doctors nor I foresee any problems related to having this pump as far as performing my job duties. Also I would test positive on a drug screen and I want to be honest about the source.

I've lived my life by the honesty is the best policy motto and it has served me well. I believe there is a place for me again in nursing. I'm older and also battled cancer this year. But I still have a lot to offer and I'll be smart by starting out part-time (if possible of course). Also I will be concentrating on clinic nursing, nothing super strenuous. The days of being on my feet for 12+ hours are now past. Happy to feel able to work again and proud of what I've gone through to get to this point. :)

NurseDiane · Oct 18, 2015

I actually do not think you have to tell your employer that you would test positive on a drug screen. If you can prove to the lab that you have a pump & something written from your doctor stating that you have a morphine pump, your screen won't be "positive" for reporting it to your employer.

I would be careful disclosing that to an employer as well. While they are not supposed to discriminate against you because of a medical condition, they will. And if they know your intrathecal pump is for a narcotic, forget it. Most nurses have no idea how an intrathecal pump works & as soon as they hear "narcotic", you're finished. At the very least, don't say anything at an interview. Wait until you're offered the job based on your merits & skills, and then you can tell them about your medical condition.

While I also believe in honesty, I believe that you don't have to lay out your entire life's history at an interview. And unless you are requesting accommodation for a disability, you don't have to disclose anything at all. While I believe in honesty, I also believe that we have things that are private & not everybody's business, especially in a workplace. As soon as people know you have a medical condition, any mistake you make will be held against you & you will be treated differently by other staff members & management. I definitely wouldn't say anything in an interview about multiple spine surgeries as the reason for your 6 year absence----you will be looked upon as a risk to leave your job again with a back problem.

That's just my opinion, based on almost 30 years of nursing. I know how things have changed, that money comes before all else in healthcare & that privacy is sometimes (almost always) the best policy.

ComeTogether, LPN · Oct 19, 2015

I actually do not think you have to tell your employer that you would test positive on a drug screen. If you can prove to the lab that you have a pump & something written from your doctor stating that you have a morphine pump, your screen won't be "positive" for reporting it to your employer.

Yep, the MRO calls, you verify the script for the pump and its reported as a negative.

Hospicegal90 · Oct 19, 2015

Thank you Nurse Diane for your reply. I understand what you are saying and because I've been away from nursing I have a 'Polyanna' view of how my pump may be received. I value your years of expertise and have rethought how I will go about this. You're correct--some things are private and need to be kept that way.

Im finding that most nurses do not have any concept of how an intrathecal pump works. That the dose is 1/300 of oral dosages. But the word narcotic is an instant judgement and for that reason I will keep this to me and my physician.

Appreciate your wisdom!!

ComeTogether, LPN · Oct 20, 2015

Im finding that most nurses do not have any concept of how an intrathecal pump works. That the dose is 1/300 of oral dosages. But the word narcotic is an instant judgement and for that reason I will keep this to me and my physician.
Appreciate your wisdom!!

Because it bypasses the liver !!! *nursing student happy dance*

Jolenelpn · Oct 20, 2015

Great advice.

NurseDiane · Oct 20, 2015

Otherwise known as __________?

NurseDiane · Oct 20, 2015

You're absolutely correct----most nurses do not know how an intrathecal pump works at all. If you told a nurse who interviews you that you have an intrathecal pump, they would nod as if they were knowledgeable about it, and then Google it the minute you walked out of their office. Most administrators haven't worked clinically in a couple of decades because they were working their way up the administrative ladder & that took time to do. Administrators have one, and only one, priority----MONEY. If they think you can churn patients in & out of the facility in record time to maximize their profits, you'll be hired. The intrathecal pump will be seen as something that will slow you down, and that's why I wouldn't say anything about it.

NurseDiane · Oct 20, 2015

I just have to leave a comment about the "gap" in employment on a resume.

It makes me mad that a "gap" in employment on a resume would initiate a question in an interview, or some kind of "discussion" about what a nurse did during that "gap". Quite honestly, a "gap" is just that---a period of time you didn't work. If that gap had to do with a personal issue, which many do, the person interviewing you isn't privy to that information just because they are interviewing you. A gap may be due to a sick family member, situations like what's been posted here, or something else that is a personal issue. However, maybe that gap is because you got sick of nursing & being treated like a slave & decided to drop out of nursing to travel around the world to see what life was like in other places. Maybe you dropped out of nursing to take up another profession, like a hair stylist or auto mechanic or electrician. Maybe you won a large amount of money on a scratch off lottery ticket & didn't have to work for a while, but want to get back into nursing. Maybe you decided to be a nun & enter a convent, but then found out that it wasn't for you. Maybe you went back to school to get a degree in something else. When someone asks about this "gap", all you should have to say is that no, you didn't work as a nurse during that period of time. It really is none of their business "why" you didn't work as a nurse for a period of time----not all nurses have worked for 4 decades straight because they were hell bent on rising up the administrative ladder like most nursing administrators have done. You could ask them if they've ever had a gap in their work history & what the reason was for the gap. You could also ask them why they've never had a gap in their work history. It makes me mad when the person interviewing acts like a gap in work history is because of something bad. Quite honestly, and this is going to sound sexist but it is the truth, female nurses often get married while they're working, get pregnant & decide to stay home with their children instead of working nights & weekends & being exhausted on their days off because they've worked like dogs. They have a couple of kids, stay home until the kids go to school, and then go back into nursing when all the kids have gone to school. Also, the cost of living has skyrocketed in the past 10 years, and many nurses have had to return to work to make ends meet in their households.

The thing that sucks is that the longer a nurse can't find a job, the bigger that gap becomes. That is something I would tell the person interviewing me----that the actual "gap" was X amount of time, but it became Y amount of time because I've been looking for a job & can't get one. I find that the whole interview process for Nursing Jobs is ridiculous---I had a telephone interview & was hired on the telephone when I was a senior in college for a nursing position in a major NYC hospital. They told me what my start date was & when I had to report to employee health for my physical & where to go for my first day of orientation. Now, it's like interviewing for a top-level position in a Fortune 500 company. Often, they do more than one interview, which I find to be idiotic. Come on, this is a nursing position, where the facility administration couldn't give 2 sh**s about the nurses as long as they can churn patients in & out for maximum profits. Patient care doesn't matter anymore. Why places make such a big deal out of the interview when healthcare has come to this is mind boggling.

CosmoRN77 · Oct 23, 2015

As nurses we are taught and are expected to accept ALL walks of life and to be compassionate towards everyone. There is no patient that does not deserve to be treated equally correct? Nurses have studied, sacrificed our personal lives, and remain dedicated to people and their well being. When it coms to something wrong with the nurse its like our heads are under the guillotine. All our hard work and efforts can be taken away at the snap of a fingertip even for conditions that are not in the nurses control. Its sad and disturbing at the imbalance of these types of situations. I am not sure if this exists or not already but I would think that if a nurse has a medical condition that hospitals are denying them a job for, they should qualify for disability. Even such small conditions such as a nurse with anxiety requiring anti anxiety medications as I have heard some hospital do not allow.