Nursing and Epilepsy

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Hey all,

In october i was diagnosed with partial complex seizures. it took a while to get them under control but finally i am doing good with anti epileptics. i was just wondering the policies with being a nurse and having epilepsy. My mom says I can't tell anyone because they won't hire me. I hope that is not the case. I haven't started nursing school but this is what i really want to do. Anyone with any information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!:innerconf

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That's not the case. You cannot be discriminated against for medical disabilities.

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that's what i thought.. especially if they are under control. though i have been told that it could affect my work, just in case i did for some reason have a seizure. and should i tell my employer?

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You will have to disclose it during your employee physical, but that's as far as it needs to go. Whether or not you want to tell anyone else is up to you. Nothing would happen to you if you didn't say anything outside of emp. health and you had a seizure.

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I just replied on another thread about this - I have adult onset seizures and I had them at work - two of them 3 months apart. I'm on Tegretol. There have been no repercussions for me.

Tell the truth.

steph

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VieraGrl1030, please don't be frightened. I have grandmal seizures myself and I work in critical care as an RN. I have actually had a seizure at work, once. I felt it coming on and asked another nurse to walk me into the nurse's breakroom. She did, I tried to psych myself out of having one but no good I had it anyway. Very embarrassing because you never want anyone to see you so vunerable but one couldn't be in a better place than surrounded by nurses. I just accepted a new job and told them of my condition. No problem's what so-ever. You need to be honest in case something ever happens to you they will know what to do. Best of luck. Alison

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aww thanks so much guys i have been worried about this for a while. :icon_hug:

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Specializes in Cardiac/ED.

I used to work for a supervisor that had seizures...she told all those that would be working with her just in case she had one. She had ambulance and fire called because people didn't know what was happening. She said that she would come out of the seizure and have ambulance guys/gals and fire guys/gal all around her, then have to sign AMA for transport.

P2

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Specializes in FNP, Peds, Epilepsy, Mgt., Occ. Ed.
I used to work for a supervisor that had seizures...she told all those that would be working with her just in case she had one. She had ambulance and fire called because people didn't know what was happening. She said that she would come out of the seizure and have ambulance guys/gals and fire guys/gal all around her, then have to sign AMA for transport.

P2

I agree with letting your co-workers know about it, just in case. This is especially true with complex partial seizures- sometimes those manifest as unusual behaviors; the people you work with need to know what your seizures look like and what to do for you if you have one. Most people think of seizures as big generalized seizures and don't know what a partial complex one may look like (and those vary from person to person).

I once worked with a nurse who was diabetic. Our manager knew but no one else. One evening she had a hypoglycemic episode. She acted drunk or drugged- giggly, walking unsteady, etc. No one knew what was going on. Finally someone called the manager- he told them she was hypoglycemic; with a little sugar, she was fine. Not letting her co-workers know was a bad idea- she could have been treated sooner. In her case, her sugar could have continued to drop until she was unconscious and could have dropped dangerously low because everyone around her thought she was taking drugs!

The other thing that is important is to not lie about the condition when you're hired. Most places can fire you if you state on your physical forms that you don't have a medical condition and later on they find out that you do- that's falsification.

The same thing goes for nursing school. Your instructors and classmates need to know what your seizures look like and what to do for you if you have one.

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Don't worry you should do fine. I work with a nurse who has been on anti-seizure meds for awhile. Her work isn't affected by it. No one has discriminated against her. I would just tell people on a need to know basis....

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Thanks... yeah I have partial complex which get an "aura" or the feeling that is coming on and then i just stare and look like i am daydreaming, then when it is over i get really scared and start hyperventilating and crying hysterically the whole process usually last for about a half an hour but i dont need ambulances or anything. and i have a good 5 minutes before i go into one, enough time to notify someone. and i am happy to say i haven't had a seizure in 3 months :yeah:

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wow I had no idea epilepsy was so common. Are you guys still allowed to drive?

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