TB test question

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I am hopefully going to start a CNA class in about 2 months. . .I know I have to take a TB test but Im a little nervous it might come up positive bc my ex had it but it was inactive. If I do test positive I know i have to do a chest X ray and if it comes up negative I will be good to go for the CNA class if it comes back positive then what? Will I not be able to ever do nursing? Also if I have it and its inactive does that mean I test positive or neg for it? Im a little confused and nervous about this can someone please explain Im so nervous bc I have always wanted to become a nurse and If I can't Im gonna be so broken :cry:

If I test postive for the PPD and my chest ex ray comes back negative does that mean I have it and its just inactive or does that mean that the PPD was wrong and I dont have it at all? Also wouldn't you know if you have active TB?

Hi,

From my understanding if you have ever been exposed to TB your ppd will come back positive forever, and you will always have to get the chest x-ray instead of the ppd. But if the chest X-ray came back positive, you go on medication and then get checked again later. The main difference would be that instead of having the ppd test in the future you would always have to prove your status with an x-ray because the ppd would always come back positive.

I do not however, have any idea if you would actually come back positive from being around someone who was inactive, I imagine we all come in contact with thousands of people who are inactive and never get exposed. Don't worry either way your carear is not over! You just may have to jump through a few extra hoops :) But I think you will be fine with the ppd

Thank you for your input, the more and more I read up on it the less I stress and the more confident I become :redpinkhe

Specializes in TB and lung disease.

I agree what cassy123 said.I worked in hospital in Slovakia with TB patients so my test is also positive and never change.I always have x-ray and it's OK.But if somebody has TB it's show on x-ray.So don't worry you'll be fine

Thank you skipi

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