Will this affect my acceptance in to my nursing program?

[naide88]

So, I spent the last two years completing all the classes and all other requirements for the nursing program at my school.

Now I have to get a physical, including all past health history.

Will the fact that in the past I've had seizures while I slept? I'm on medication now and have not had any seizures in years.

My school wants to know about anything that may prohibit my chances of completing the program, and this may stop them from accepting me into the program.

Let me know if anyone has any information on this because I am stressing over this completely.

[tothepointeLVN, LVN]

Disclose and have your doctors ready to back up your readiness to start nursing. This protects both the school AND you. I would hate for something to happen on a clinical and then the malpractice insurance the school provides wouldn't cover you because you lied.

Make sure to find out the technical term for your type of seizures as they are all different.

[justme1972]

I would check with your DR. I know we have to take a drug screening prior to starting our clinicals. I would hate for your meds to show up, and then you have to confess to taking them, and not listing them on your physical, and then confess to your health history, and not listing that.

I personally would check with your primary care Dr. and have a heart to heart. If he says it won't affect your abilities then you could even have him write a note stating that. The way it sounds it really wouldn't affect your nursing, and I am sure he/she wouldn't mind saying that on paper. Then its all out in the open, and you won't have to even think about it anymore.

Not all drugs are asked for in advance, and not all drug testing is done the same.

I just went for pre-employment drug screening. I was told they were ONLY looking for opiates, narcotics, marijuana, cocaine, heroin, etc.

Drug testing is expensive, they don't run a full toxicology like you would on an autopsy to find out every single thing that you are on.

I was told that IF something showed up, that I would receive a call, and be given 7 days to produce a prescription. However, I was also SPECIFICALLY told that not only does everything (such as antibiotics, birth control pills, etc) not show up, but if you have a prescription for it, on the DRUG REPORT, the only thing that the HR department gets back is "No illegal drugs found".

They DO NOT get a full report of everything you are on, because that violates your rights of privacy.

Don't disclose anything about your health status that you are not required to.

[Music in My Heart]

Keep in mind that, despite HIPAA, your health information is not as private as you'd like it to be. I would be loathe to disclose ANY medical condition that did not directly affect my ability to do my job.

[vballmanrn]

Speak to your physician about it. I don't really see why it would be a problem. If you can give safe and effective nursing care and not put your patients in danger, then it shouldn't be a problem. Whatever you do though, be HONEST. Nurses have to be accountable for their actions. If you start off your nursing education by lying, you'll be on a slippery slope. If they find out you lied, then........

[JettaDP]

I hope you haven't submitted your medical record yet and lied on it.......

You have no idea as to whether they go off of what you say or if they look further into your medical history. What if they do look into it more? Do you want to get rejected from the program because you lied about a condition? I guarantee that if that happens you will be sorry. Don't ruin your chances for getting in to the program.

As many have already said, I don't think your condition will affect your acceptance. Unless you fall asleep during class and clinicals, you should have no problems. You can pretty much prove that it won't affect your abilities as a nurse. And as someone else said, they can't deny you admission under the amercians with disabilities act. As long as this problem continues to only happen when you sleep at night, you should be okay.

[naide88]

Well, I have taken my physical and still need to get a few labs done..but I haven't submitted anything to school yet.

It says on my medical record that I have "seizure disorder" but they are under control...That is all.

[JettaDP]

Well, I have taken my physical and still need to get a few labs done..but I haven't submitted anything to school yet.

It says on my medical record that I have "seizure disorder" but they are under control...That is all.

Then I think you should be fine. If asked, just explain the condition and I'm sure they will understand. Good luck. I hope it works out for you!