Nursing with mental illness

Nurses Disabilities

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Hello, all! I badly want to be a nurse, but i have mental illness. Although I can manage it well( I work full time and study at the same time), after i read few topics on this site about nurses with bipolar disorder, i decided to take a pause. I live in state which doesn't care about your mental health(NY), but i've been told that it's hard to find a job here as new grad, and you need to move out of state for few years to get experience first(is it even true?). I know that with almost every other state you have to disclose your health issues. But, what will happen if i dont disclose it(I mean how do they get to know that)? Or what will happen if i disclose it? Even though, I got few information from other topics, in my opinion it wasn't really clear. And one more question, every school around me require physical exam before admission process, so do i need to disclose my health issues with the school on the exam or can i just tell them that everything is okay?

Thank you!

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Hi qweez,

I am a nurse living with & working with with bipolar! Woo-hoo! Welcome to the club :) You can most definitely succeed, especially if you can juggle school & work while managing. I work in KY & in my state, it is a matter of voluntary disclosure. I personally choose not to disclose. I've never lived in another state, so I cannot imagine having to disclose this information. Mental illness is not so uncommon in nursing - I was surprised at how many of my coworkers have shared their diagnoses with me. I work in mental health/addictions, so my employer highly emphasizes self-care as a daily part of our work life. Legally, I don't know how that works in a state where you are obligated to disclose. I would say, if your diagnosis interferes with your work life from time to time, i.e. needing to take leave, etc., that's when I would consider how to approach disclosing that. Otherwise, in my situation, that's something I don't disclose, as they do not have the right to my PHI.

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Thank you for your answer, TJMICHAEL!

I think i have to consider KY as an option to move there in the future, as it is not obligated to disclose your health issues there. Is it hard to get a job in KY with associate, or do you need to get your bsn first?

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Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.

FWIW, I live with bipolar I and have had no repercussions from disclosing my psychiatric history to the Board of Nursing in my state. I felt it would be best to answer honestly because they do ask. I've renewed my license twice since being diagnosed and it's never been an issue.

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Thank you VivaLasViejas, In which state are you? What did you have to through after disclosing(additional training, psychiatric evaluations, disclose all your disease history)?

And can you guys actually let me to edit my post. I am not an native English speaker, so I missed a lot of articles because was very tired.

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Specializes in ED, Cardiac-step down, tele, med surg.

Many states don't ask about mental illness, including CA and some states in the Midwest. If you have mental illness and it doesn't interfere with your ability to practice safely, it's really no ones business, so why disclose it at all? You'll potentially be asked about it when you do your health screening for work with your employer but you'll be protected by the ADA. I would encourage you to read that law and carefully study it because that will protect you in most instances from discrimination. There are many many nurses with various health problems including "mental illness" from ADHD to bipolar discorder and many other problems that work as nurses. The thing is is that these things can't get in the way of performing safely and effectively. There are MDs too that have these issues who practice safely and effectively too. Don't let a medical problem get in your way of doing your best because people think it must affect you in a certain way.

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Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.
Thank you VivaLasViejas, In which state are you? What did you have to through after disclosing(additional training, psychiatric evaluations, disclose all your disease history)?

And can you guys actually let me to edit my post. I am not an native English speaker, so I missed a lot of articles because was very tired.

I'm in Oregon. I didn't have to do anything but pay the renewal fee. I wonder if this may be due to the fact that I haven't practiced in a while and am on disability, but I've kept my license active "just in case". I'll have to give it up next year because I won't have had 900 practice hours in the past five years, so I'll put in for "retired" or "inactive" status.

As for editing your post, you can click on the little yellow triangle in the bottom right corner and "report" the post to the moderators, asking them to edit. (By the way, your English is quite good.)

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Specializes in Med-surg, telemetry, oncology, rehab, LTC, ALF.

I have yet to be asked about my mental health. I have several coworkers who have a mental illness or two, and take medications for it. While my depression is currently stable, I have had to take anti-depressants for it in the past. I personally wouldn't disclose it even if I was asked about it, but that's me.

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health screening for work? So, they will get access to all my medical records? You mean i could refuse health screening because the ADA protects me, but nobody will hire me than because of that.

It's very hard to google the law. I tried, but I found nothing.

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