Working the same unit you were once hospitalized (psych)

TriciaJ, RN · Mar 29, 2015

I think you should have a good shot at working on the unit where you were hospitalized. If you have recovered enough to complete nursing school and don't have ongoing problems, then your personal experience should be an asset. Holding your medical history against you should not be legal, unless you give them reason to believe you would be a problem employee.

Your post makes you sound like someone who is clear-headed and articulate. If you present similarly in an interview, they should be glad to have you. If your coworkers recognize you, you don't need to be apologetic, just be your capable self.

In psych nursing, we rarely find out what happens to someone we never see again. So many people don't have good outcomes. You will boost the morale of your unit by showing that people can and do recover. Good luck to you!

caliotter3 · Mar 29, 2015

Not on the same unit, but I knew a person who was able to work in the mental health field with a history of mental health problems in their past. They were very apprehensive about applying for the job, but found they were able to frame their experience as an asset during the interview and they were hired.

TakeTwoAspirin, MSN, RN, APRN · Mar 29, 2015

I wouldn't even think twice about this with any other specialty (i.e. ICU, Oncology, ER, etc) but people treat mental health differently, so I thought I'd be worthwhile to verify that I'm not setting myself up for a huge disappointment.

I hurts my heart to see a post like this because it tells me that we still have a very long way to go in de-stigmatizing mental health disorders. Personally, I believe that your history makes you uniquely qualified to pursue this field. Credibility is often a difficult barrier between mental health patients and their caregivers. Your ability to relate to their experiences will make you a valuable member of any mental healthcare team. I encourage you to continue to pursue your chosen profession.

As far as people looking up your history, this is illegal and has severe consequences. However, as you have said yourself, many mental health workers are not strangers to mental health problems themselves and I would hope that even if your past were know, this would not prevent them from acknowledging and respecting your skills as a psychiatric nursing provider.

Now that I am on my soapbox about mental health and social acceptance, it kills me that professionals are afraid to reveal their mental health problems - presumably out of fear of professional retaliation or discrimination. Perhaps if the German pilot who just crashed a plane in France carrying 149 other souls had felt that he could reveal his problems without retribution those people would still be alive today.

elkpark · Mar 29, 2015

I hurts my heart to see a post like this because it tells me that we still have a very long way to go in de-stigmatizing mental health disorders. Personally, I believe that your history makes you uniquely qualified to pursue this field. Credibility is often a difficult barrier between mental health patients and their caregivers. Your ability to relate to their experiences will make you a valuable member of any mental healthcare team. I encourage you to continue to pursue your chosen profession.
As far as people looking up your history, this is illegal and has severe consequences. However, as you have said yourself, many mental health workers are not strangers to mental health problems themselves and I would hope that even if your past were know, this would not prevent them from acknowledging and respecting your skills as a psychiatric nursing provider.
Now that I am on my soapbox about mental health and social acceptance, it kills me that professionals are afraid to reveal their mental health problems - presumably out of fear of professional retaliation or discrimination. Perhaps if the German pilot who just crashed a plane in France carrying 149 other souls had felt that he could reveal his problems without retribution those people would still be alive today.

(From the coverage I've seen of the Lufthansa crash, he was already identified as having psychiatric issues and was working under a physician's care and oversight (apparently "without professional retaliation or discrimination"), but had chosen to stop his medications and destroyed notes from his physician directing that he be excused from work in order to be able to be on the flight he crashed. Not a very good "advertisement" for people with psychiatric issues being allowed to function in the work place like anyone else.

TakeTwoAspirin, MSN, RN, APRN · Mar 29, 2015

(From the coverage I've seen of the Lufthansa crash, he was already identified as having psychiatric issues and was working under a physician's care and oversight (apparently "without professional retaliation or discrimination"), but had chosen to stop his medications and destroyed notes from his physician directing that he be excused from work in order to be able to be on the flight he crashed. Not a very good "advertisement" for people with psychiatric issues being allowed to function in the work place like anyone else.

They didn't retaliate because they didn't know.

Pilots hiding health problems because of 'gaping hole in system' | Daily Mail Online

elkpark · Mar 29, 2015

From the article you posted:

"The co-pilot had previously been treated by psychiatrists for 'burnout syndrome' which required him to take a break from pilot training in 2009. He was allowed to complete his training in 2013 and get a pilot's licence, under the condition he had regular medical exams."

Lufthansa knew he had had a history of depression (the CNN article below talks about "depression" rather than "burnout syndrome") but didn't retaliate against him, and instead allowed him to return to training and work after getting treatment. He was not retaliated against or stigmatized. His privacy and medical records were protected. Lufthansa was allowing him to fly as long as he remained under a physician's care and oversight. All of this sounds like exactly what you are advocating. And yet he chose to stop his medication and withhold information about being considered unfit to fly, and the outcome, in this case, was the death of the 149 other individuals on the plane.

Officials: Co-pilot Andreas Lubitz hid illness - CNN.com

Libby1987 · Mar 29, 2015

Re OP, depression and anxiety are so common that who knows how many coworkers have been and are being treated currently, we can already can speculate a high percentage. I would think it would be a non issue this many years out.

This pilot though, why in the world was "not to fit to work" not reported as a danger to others. Doesn't that fall under danger to self or others? When you're a commercial pilot? I know a different country, would it be reportable in the US?

Whispera, MSN, RN · Mar 29, 2015

I worked with two nurses who were hospitalized during the time they were employed by our psychiatric units. Both came back to work when they were stabilized, and after several weeks at home to make sure they felt okay with coming back. As far as I know, no one looked at them any differently. In fact, maybe they were seen as being more easily capable of empathy with our patients, since they had walked in their shoes.

Speaking for myself, my mom was hospitalized twice on my units. Mom had an extreme form of bipolar disorder. No one treated me a bit differently. Mom received excellent care too...

TakeTwoAspirin, MSN, RN, APRN · Mar 29, 2015

Elkpark, generally people repeat behaviors that resulted in positive outcomes. They generally do not repeat behaviors that result in negative outcomes. True, this pilot did have a history. However, since that initial "burnout" he chose not to keep his employers appraised of his ongoing struggles. There is a reason for this, and it's not unreasonable to hypothesize that the reason is that he believed it would negatively impact his career and perhaps Lufthansa were not as supportive as they would now like us to believe. While I don't believe any of this absolves him of responsibility, my opinion stands as to our overall lack of acceptance of mental disorders when compared to "physical" disorders.

dirtyhippiegirl, BSN, RN · Mar 29, 2015

I did clinicals on the adolescent unit I basically lived on in the late 90s/early 00s. Two nurses were still on the unit from my time there and they recognized me immediately. Both were genuinely happy to see that I was not permanently institutionalized, I think. lol. But it was still a pretty awkward experience.

Realistically, I would assume the odds of anyone remembering you would be pretty low. But I would be careful about how you frame disclosure of your background, if you disclose at all because you don't know how a potential employer will interpret it. I know when I did my psych rotations, I was told to wear long sleeves and not talk specifically about anything that I had been through.

loriangel14, RN · Mar 29, 2015

A mental health facility near me actually encourages applications from nurses with previous mental health issues. Good luck.