Psych nursing interview- Should I talk about personal experience with OCD?

[ArtemisRN]

I am currently looking for a job as a new graduate, and one of the areas I am interested in is psych. I've had a strong interest in this for a few reasons:

1) I previously worked in the office of an assisted living facility for the disabled. The majority of our residents were mentally ill, many of them had schizophrenia. I was told that I interact with mentally ill residents well. Many residents who were paranoid trusted me and would come to me with concerns. Even when residents got out of hand (oh and trust me they did) I learned to take it with a grain of salt and move on.

2) In clinical, whenever a patient had a decreased LOC and was resisting treatment, my fellow nursing students asked me to help. I seemed to be a natural with calming people down. I developed a reputation for it. I'm not perfect at it, but I think a lot of it has to do with demeanor and experience.

3) My personal history with mental illness. At 16 I overcame crippling obsessive compulsive disorder. I did this on my own, through what I now know is considered behavioral and exposure therapy. I had tried medications, which failed miserably. I had dropped out of school and basically lived as a recluse. I finally got fed up and decided if I was ever going to beat this I had to face my fears and stop the compulsive acts. I have been completely OCD free for years. I can't imagine living like that ever again. I think being through that has taught me so much about mental illness. This experience, more than anything, motivates me to help others.

4) My much younger sister has severe autism and epilepsy. I believe that caring for her, learning to find ways to connect to her, has given me a skill that I use with patients who experience psychosis.

I think it takes a special person to be able to treat a mentally ill individual without judgement. I know for some, it's difficult to see behavior as a symptom of an illness. It is also easy to enable, avoid setting limits, ignore bad behavior, and lower expectations for the mentally ill. I think the ability to address negative behavior while retaining rapport is tricky, but I love rising to that challenge.

I am wondering these things would be appropriate to talk about in the interview process. I am sure one of the questions will be, "Why psych nursing?"

I have been mentally healthy for over 10 years and I don't see myself ever falling back into that pattern again. I am not ashamed of my past history with this illness. However, do you think that talking about this during an interview will hurt my chances of getting a job? I could understand how someone might view a past history of mental illness as a liability, especially when it comes to nursing.

[Pangea Reunited, ASN, RN]

I think it takes a special person to be able to treat a mentally ill individual without judgement. I know for some, it's difficult to see behavior as a symptom of an illness. It is also easy to enable, avoid setting limits, ignore bad behavior, and lower expectations for the mentally ill. I think the ability to address negative behavior while retaining rapport is tricky, but I love rising to that challenge.

I would answer with this type of response and leave the personal stories out. Boundaries matter. I would feel hesitant to hire anyone who felt the need to discuss their personal problems in a job interview- even if they're ancient history.

[elkpark]

Don't do it. Talk about all the other stuff you listed. Leave your personal medical/psychiatric history out of it.

[Meriwhen, ASN, BSN, MSN, RN]

I agree with the prior posters. 1, 2 and 4 are fine to talk about in an interview.

IMO, 3 is not. Two reasons:

1. The fact that you have a psych history doesn't mean you'll be good at psych nursing. It will help with your empathy and insight into the patients and their conditions--you've "been there, done that." But having a psych diagnosis is not required to be a good psych nurse--there's many good psych nurses without psych issues...so bringing it up will not guarantee you the job.

Also keep in mind that these patients are NOT you nor your family members. Even if they share the same psych diagnoses as you, your sister, etc...their attitudes towards their illness and the paths they choose to take to recovery may be very different.

2. Unfortunately there are employers--even in psych--who will see your psych history as a negative. They may be less inclined to see it in terms of what your history can offer, but instead as a risk that they'd have to decide if it's worth taking.

Fair? Not really. But it is what it is.

Good luck with the interview!

[Karmatism]

I have to agree with the previous posters. Even if it didn't interfere with getting hired, would you really want your employer 'having that on you' so to speak? People talk and chances are it would get around. You just never know who might try and use it against you at some point. I hate to sound negative, but I've seen stuff like this too many times. Save the personal details for your friends/family.

Best of luck with the interview. Sounds like you'd be a great psych nurse :)

[apoppyfield, BSN, RN]

And once you start on the job, leave the personal stuff out.

[adnrnstudent, ASN, RN]

In my case, and I can't say it would go this way for you, I was asked why I wanted to be a Psych nurse. I have ADHD and a variety of personality disorders, I discussed it and the hiring manager hired me on the spot. She even said she was supposed to let HR notify me but didn't want to lose me to someplace else so she told me on spot. Fortunately the mental illness I have is of the fun variety to an extent an actually makes me a better nurse. You have to feel out the interviewer, in my case, discussing it is what got me the job.

[adnrnstudent, ASN, RN]

And almost 1 year later, I've never been late for work, my manager would say I'm one of the most dependable nurses on unit. I'm also one of the only nurses that carries a stethoscope and do assessments like I'm on a med-surg floor. Over the past year I have made my condition a point of laughter because hiding it would only make co-workers not understand me. I am so particular and so anal, it's now a funny joke to everyone instead of a gossip talking point. I just simply own it.

[TerpGal02, ASN]

You may get the very rare hiring manager that sees your diagnosis as a strength but don't bet on it by a long shot. I have bipolar type II and had to disclose at my first nursing job (in psych) due to a hospitalization. Lets just say my employer was not at ll sympathetic and made things more difficult for me, in fact. Moral of the story, it would behoove you to NOT mention your diagnosis, or family member stuff. (Although I think the family member stuff is more acceptable than your own). Your other examples are excellent to mention. Make sure you are VERY stable because some of these patients stories are heartwrenching, and many of them will "hit too close to home" so to speak. I agree with keeping professional boundaries and remembering these patients are NOT you, just because they have the same dx. Projection is never a good thing. But I agree, as someone who has been there, done that, gotten the t-shirt, you are at an advantage when it comes to being empathetic to this population. Empathy is NOT easy all the time with psych patients and some of them will def rub you the wrong way. So if psych is something you really want and think you can do, welcome to the dark side!