I graduated as an LPN in May 2012, and bridged to my ADN December 2014. I'm currently working on my BSN.
The reason I went to nursing was to be a psychiatric nurse. I have always been very passionate about mental health. Like many people that say that, my origins in this interest came from not always being so mentally healthy myself. I have a history of depression and was voluntarily hospitalized in March 2007 for suicidal ideation and April 2007 was involuntarily hospitalized after a suicide attempt. I was 20 at the time.
Fast forward 8 years later and I'm in a much better place. I haven't used medication or therapy for several years, though I am very open to the fact that they may be necessary in the future. One can never predict. My depression is under control, I live a healthy lifestyle and I'm able to manage both work and school fulltime.
Since getting my LPN I have worked at a doctor's office for a family physician. We get our fair share of mental health crises and it's really helped remind me of the reason why I went to school. The only reason why I'm not working directly in mental health now is that there are no places closeby to where we live now, but this summer my husband and I will be moving so he can pursue his Master's in Clinical Psychology (yeah, we're both into it. =) )
So, I'm very excited to go somewhere that has an inpatient behavioral health unit, but the only issue is....it's the same place where I had my voluntary hospitalization.
With the information I have today, I don't *believe* that I will have any problem going back there to work. I follow up that statement with this: I've had a lot of mental health inpatient clinicals and, while the first day I did this during LPN school did bother me and "take me back there" for a little while, that was a number of years ago and I've since had numerous days in different inpatient psych units. I specifically asked for extra days in this area during my ADN clinicals. And again, I've taken the initiative on a lot of mental health crises with patients in our clinic. My physician knows me passion for psych and is wonderful about letting me make decisions about treatment plans, hospitalization recommendations, etc. So again, it may be odd to go back there, but I do believe that I will be able to handle it and be resilient to any stress it adds.
That being said...I just wasn't sure if it somehow frowned upon for Psychiatric nurses to work anywhere where they have been hospitalized. 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 understand that it's illegal for them to ask me about my health history, but say that I got there and it ever came out somehow that I was there before (i.e. where I work now when you look up a patient's name you get the sames of 6-8 other people with similar names that have also been seen, or maybe a long-time employee could recognize me...who knows), would that be the nail in my coffin? There are so few inpatient behavioral health places around me without having a 2 hour one-way commute (which i did all through school and am really resistant to do it for another 3+ years while hubby is in school), which is why I feel like I have "all my eggs in once basket" here.
Sorry this is a book, but I value any insight that can be offered.
Thank you to everyone that took the time to answer my question. It's definitely helping me to feel more confident with this application.
I did make the choice fairly early on in working with my physician/boss to let her and my coworkers know about my experiences as a consumer of mental health, and I've never felt judged for it. The difference there is that I do feel very protected by my boss, and even if a higher-up caught wind of my history (I don't hide it but I don't make a point of telling everyone I meet in casual conversation, either. I wear an "I support suicide prevention awareness" pin everyday) and had a problem with it, I know my job would never be in jeopardy. I'm glad to hear that I can continue to be honest and effective in this setting I'm seeking. I do agree with those that said that it helps add an element of "credibility" when you are helping to treat something you've experienced. And honestly, I can see how it's hard for people that haven't been there to understand the perspective of someone with a chronic mental illness. It's complex and abstract, but some parts seem familiar ("hey, I get sad, too!"), making it easier to call someone lazy than to actually try to understand something that he/she might not really be able to articulate. It's sad to think of professionals falling into that same mistake, but I've experienced it both as a patient and a colleague.
As far as the pilot....*sigh* I hate it when these situations hit the news. Obviously the situation is horrible, and I feel terrible for the families of the victims and the professionals, friends and family that tried to help the pilot. I do find myself focusing on the stigma in these events and how it's already so horrible. We're just now finally getting (some) people to understand that mental health is just as important as physical health, let's not have people thinking that everyone seeking treatment with their doctor or therapist is some potential terrorist. It's obviously not the norm, but between the fact that so many people don't feel like they can talk about their illnesses (thus making it appear that there are so many less people afflicted than there really are) and the sensationalized headlines of the worst-case scenarios, it's easy to assume that "depressed" or "anxious" or "psychotic" means "homicidal".
I don't advocate telling employers your personal business and am almost never a fan of self-disclosure in psychiatry. I have seen it used by inexperienced staff as a way to gain credibility with patients and it can come back to haunt you. When someone discloses their background it becomes about them, even if only for a moment, and not about the patient which is not therapeutic. It does not take someone who has experienced a condition to effectively empathize and treat a patient. Would we say it takes a cancer survivor to truly understand and care for a cancer patient? Or only a woman who has had a baby to understand and take proper care of a patient on L&D? Just because they have shared a diagnosis does not mean their experience is similar or justify taking the focus off the patient, imo. My advice is keep your personal business personal and use your professional therapeutic skill set to guide you as you care for your patients.
A mental health facility near me actually encourages applications from nurses with previous mental health issues. Good luck.
Am I the only one who finds this practice offensive? I mean really how is that even appropriate? Do we advertise for people with eating disorders to work an eating disorder unit? Diabetics to work at the Diabetes Center? Former smokers to work on a cancer floor? People who have had strokes to work on a rehab floor? I don't know something about that doesn't sound kosher to me and I get the feeling it would only fly because its mental health.
I don't know something about that doesn't sound kosher to me and I get the feeling it would only fly because its mental health.
It's the worst in addictions -- in some places, two years of sobriety qualifies you to be a counselor.
With disclosure of past mental health issues, I think the potential for a severely negative reaction overrides any benefit that empathy might bring to the table unless the facility is overt about it. (Which some places are.)
It's a tricky decision whether to disclose past mental health problems or not to a potential employer. I am a psychiatric nurse and many employees I know are past addicts, had former struggles with depression, etc. but no more than on any other kind of floor...we are all human! Depending on the type of employer, they can see your past as beneficial if proper boundaries are maintained or you can be pegged as "someone to watch." Be very careful!
My psychiatric hospital will hire former patients if it has been 2 years since their last hospitalization. So long as you are stable and qualified they cannot disqualify you based on hospitalizations years ago. I personally would love to see my adolescents never come back to my facility, become nurses, and work alongside of me. To me that would be incredibly rewarding as we rarely get to see patient outcomes in an acute inpatient facility. Apply! It should not be a problem.
Your experience makes you uniquely qualified to help others. If I needed mental health services, I'd pick a nurse who'd been there and come through over anyone else. Sad there is still a stigma, but people like you will contribute the changing it.
Thanks for your post and wishing you and your husband the best on this next phase of your path.
Specializes in Critical Care, Med-Surg, Psych, Geri, LTC, Tele,.
I agree with what Jules said about not disclosing your personal business.
That being said, one mental health tech told me she was hospitalized in a psych unit previously. She said she told the hiring mgrs this before she was hired.
But, if your psych unit is like mine, there's sure to be a nurse or 2 who've worked there for a million years who might remember your stay there.
As for me, I never disclosed my own struggles in staying mentally healthy with co workers or supervisors.
I did, eventually, open up to clients in a therapeutic, professional manner. I
I agree with what Jules said about not disclosing your personal business.
That being said, one mental health tech told me she was hospitalized in a psych unit previously. She said she told the hiring mgrs this before she was hired.
But, if your psych unit is like mine, there's sure to be a nurse or 2 who've worked there for a million years who might remember your stay there.
As for me, I never disclosed my own struggles in staying mentally healthy with co workers or supervisors.
I did, eventually, open up to clients in a therapeutic, professional manner. I
IMO (with many years of experience as a psych staff nurse and psych CNS), there is no way to disclose your own psychiatric hx to clients "in a therapeutic, professional manner," esp. if you are simultaneously withholding that info from your coworkers and superiors. That behavior is always nontherapeutic and unprofessional, and is a huge boundary "red flag."
Specializes in Psych, Addictions, SOL (Student of Life).
I did it and so can you! In 2004 I was hospitalized for a suicide attempt and drug overdose. I got treatment there went through a diversion program. About 6 months after I was in treatment I was doing volunteer peer counseling at the facility as part of my after-care when the DON offered me a job. She even work with my diversion enforcement committee to make sure the job met all the stipulations of my diversion contract. I worked there for 6 years.
I don't have a specific desire to work in the same place I've been before. My desire is to work in inpatient psychology because I want to eventually become a PMHNP and, to do that, I want to work inpatient for a few years first as a RN. Kansas has several inpatient psych units but they're pretty spread out, just like everything else in the state. There are no nearby inpatient units where I currently live. However, we will be moving to the same down as where I had my involuntary stay, which has one behavioral health unit.
There are a couple units an hour on the other side of that town (away from where I currently live) that I could apply to as well, sure, but do I really need to go that far out of my way only to avoid working at that one place? Would that be the recommendation if I'd been in the Med/Surg unit attached to the same hospital?
So, to sum all of that up: I'm not seeking to work in the same place I have been hospitalized, but I'm not going to avoid it, either, when aviding requires either setting back my career or having another 3 years of long commutes. My preference would be to go to a unit where I've had a few of my psych clinicals because I really like the culture there, but they don't have a nearby program for hubby's school.
Again, thank you to all that are continuing to give feedback. I'm glad to know the varying perspectives. =)
Ddestiny, BSN, RN
265 Posts
Thank you to everyone that took the time to answer my question. It's definitely helping me to feel more confident with this application.
I did make the choice fairly early on in working with my physician/boss to let her and my coworkers know about my experiences as a consumer of mental health, and I've never felt judged for it. The difference there is that I do feel very protected by my boss, and even if a higher-up caught wind of my history (I don't hide it but I don't make a point of telling everyone I meet in casual conversation, either. I wear an "I support suicide prevention awareness" pin everyday) and had a problem with it, I know my job would never be in jeopardy. I'm glad to hear that I can continue to be honest and effective in this setting I'm seeking. I do agree with those that said that it helps add an element of "credibility" when you are helping to treat something you've experienced. And honestly, I can see how it's hard for people that haven't been there to understand the perspective of someone with a chronic mental illness. It's complex and abstract, but some parts seem familiar ("hey, I get sad, too!"), making it easier to call someone lazy than to actually try to understand something that he/she might not really be able to articulate. It's sad to think of professionals falling into that same mistake, but I've experienced it both as a patient and a colleague.
As far as the pilot....*sigh* I hate it when these situations hit the news. Obviously the situation is horrible, and I feel terrible for the families of the victims and the professionals, friends and family that tried to help the pilot. I do find myself focusing on the stigma in these events and how it's already so horrible. We're just now finally getting (some) people to understand that mental health is just as important as physical health, let's not have people thinking that everyone seeking treatment with their doctor or therapist is some potential terrorist. It's obviously not the norm, but between the fact that so many people don't feel like they can talk about their illnesses (thus making it appear that there are so many less people afflicted than there really are) and the sensationalized headlines of the worst-case scenarios, it's easy to assume that "depressed" or "anxious" or "psychotic" means "homicidal".