Peru and TB

[rbozzell]

Hello, I recently went to Peru and got to shadow a nurse down there. It was a great experience except they hardly use and contact or airborne precautions. When I got back I was having a TB test done for a new job and I told them about my trip. Since TB may not show up for up to three months after exposer they recommended that I come back in three months to have another test. My question is more of if they can prevent me from starting work if there is a slight possibility that I may have been exposed?

[roser13, ASN, RN]

Unless you are already employed and in a union, yes of course they can choose to not continue with the hiring process. As I understand it, you are not yet working for them. The initial hiring process can be interrupted/derailed at any point for any number of reasons.

P.S. It's "exposure" not exposer. The exposer would be the person who exposed you to TB.

[nurseprnRN, BSN, RN]

As one infectious disease doc told me, anybody who rides public transportation will have a positive TB test. This means that if you breathe air with enough people, it's a pretty safe bet that you will, eventually, inhale the tuberculosis bacillus, and if you have a normal immune system, you will make antibodies for it, the evidence for which is the positive skin test.

I agree you have to wait for the recommended time to have it done, but even if it is positive then, remember that. A positive skin test alone will not likely be determinative for a hiring decision, else half the nursing staff in city hospitals would be out of work.

[Meriwhen, ASN, BSN, MSN, RN]

A positive PPD test is not an automatic disqualifier for employment. Should you test positive, they will often order an x-ray (or have you bring a copy of the results if you had had one already) to see if you have active TB. I know/work with several nurses who have positive PPDs.

Best of luck on both counts.