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.
So, are there some professions that should be banned to people who have a mental health history? Does amount of time stable after hospitalization matter? Does diagnosis matter?
Who will police this? Is it OK to take a whole category of people and say that "because of your mental health history you might harm others someday and we can't take that chance? You've been stable for 10 years, but we all know mental problems can surface unexpectedly." How far does it go? If we hire someone with a history of mental health problems do we need to require them to sign a form surrendering their privacy rights so that we can do systematic monitoring of their mental health records?
I don't know the answers. I just worry about people being pre-judged in the name of protecting the public when individual risk varies so much.
I would probably create an old fashioned "pros vs cons" list. I.e., "What positives could I reasonably expect from disclosing? What negatives could I reasonably expect?" Only you know your history and what comfort level you have with letting it be known. If you choose to not disclose and someone recognizes you, you could respond with "Yeah, I was here years ago and had a good experience that changed my life. I am hoping to be able to help others like I was helped and make a positive difference in someone's life." And leave it at that. No need to get into detail.
My personal thought is I would not disclose because some people may attempt to "use" you as an example. "See that nurse there? She was a patient here and she's doing great now!" They may mean no harm, but it could undermine your practice. Just my $0.2.
Interesting that you garnered all this information from a couple of paragraphs posted in cyber space. Nothing against the OP or anyone else here but I wouldn't be willing to assess and vouch for anyone's stated of mind based on one or two posts in an online forum.
Oh but we do make judgments and form opinions based on the smallest of details. And of course mistakes will be made. Some easily remedied and others color our relationship with that person forever.
Assuming the OP wrote her own post, I was positively influenced by her writing style, grammar and use of college level words. She presented her story in a straightforward manner without guilt or excuses and that made me assume she would do so in real life.
It is fascinating though how we can pick up on somebody that "ain't right" from across the room.
I am sad for some of the other posters who have had terrible experiences. Not to say that **** can't just fall from the sky but I wonder to what extent they bring it on themselves. A victim mentality goes a long way to making a victim. The hypervigilent will find bullying, discrimination etc. so much more often than folks with a more forgiving nature.
NEVER Disclose. It's NONE of their business, and don't make it their business.
Anytime people hear involuntary hospitalization they think "danger to self or others" and/or "gravely disabled."
People are afraid of what this means.. it means somebody supposedly considered you a "danger" to self or others... Look at one of the first posts of this thread, they think some guy is going to run into a mountain range (which appears to be based on pure speculation, but people are put into psych wards based on speculation of what they may or may not do) bc he decided to not disclose some so-called mental illness. So what do people think? Shootings, people crashing planes (probably a reason they will take away your car if called on), ect... while there are HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS if not MILLIONS who will get involuntarily hospitalized. Even those who get some court (even with a public defender/lawyer) who will say they have to be institutionalized, taking away their freedom and rights to refuse drugs/questioning/activities, oftentimes, restrained to a bed or gurney in painful positions.
Look for a second on what they might think one is by saying that. It's sickening and frightening what people claimed you were and what people might think if they know.
People assume involuntary hospitalization or hospitalization = attempt, but actually it can be bc you say you are being followed/stalked, say people may have poisoned you, disrupt the public in some way, have a history of diagnoses and/or somebody called on you (911, security, ect), say you are bi-polar and a whole plethora of other reasons that people can rationalize to get a person locked up based off what they say or do.
How would one like to be the person up late at night thinking, How could I be 'that' person to get institutionalized? This is horrible and not true. Am I really that awful? What if people find out, I would be ostracized, could lose jobs, lost firearm rights (aka, not eligible for military or ROTC, either, or some other jobs), get kicked out of school (read all the online stories of people getting kicked out of school if haven't heard of it, e.g., college stories are out there, but can also be k-12), people could be afraid or think horrible things... even when you are NOT?!
Employers, co-workers, schools, and classmates, and/or strangers can think you are a liability if you say somebody diagnosed you before or labeled you with mental illness.
There are reasons why statistics out there say "80% unemployment" and "50% of employers" will think twice about hiring somebody who says they have... "62% of workers say they would not work with somebody with schizophrenia." These are really, imo, low statistics for what the life-long issue could be with the public.
Keep It a Secret! Expunge those documents, petition, seal those records, and tell no one. I cannot emphasize it enough... it's a rough world out there and you don't know how somebody could react including long-term ramifications. This is an anonymous board vs public. There's a reason why requests for medical records will say "HIV/AIDS/STD" info and "mental illness/diagnosis" information to be sealed and such on the form... it can be damaging if people know.
Woooh. I would say you have had a bad experience with the mental health system.
BTW The OP was not involuntarily hospitalized for schizophrenia. A young adult (actually more a teenager as she was only 20) voluntarily sought help for depression/suicide attempt) Jeez, what teenager hasn't had a crazy thought.
And, yes, I have had a very good experience with the mental health care system.
I am sad for some of the other posters who have had terrible experiences. Not to say that **** can't just fall from the sky but I wonder to what extent they bring it on themselves. A victim mentality goes a long way to making a victim. The hypervigilent will find bullying, discrimination etc. so much more often than folks with a more forgiving nature.
Are we reading two different threads? The personal stories range from "felt awkward on unit, would not advise" to "had a good experience" to maybe my nursing school anecdote where I was specifically told to cover my self-harm scars and not talk about my past as so to not disrupt the therapeutic milieu of the unit. (Which I had no problem complying with.)
Try looking at the "keep your mouth shut" angle from this perspective: in some states, if you divulge a psychiatric hospitalization within X amount of years on your nursing license application, you will automatically be diverted into the addictions monitoring program for a few years. This isn't hyper-vigilence or seeking out victimhood. It does, however, make it very difficult to get a job.
in some states, if you divulge a psychiatric hospitalization within X amount of years on your nursing license application, you will automatically be diverted into the addictions monitoring program for a few years.
I doubt this. I would have to see this in writing. Though a web link would do.
Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.
No one is saying such folks should not be hired. But stigmas persist. I would never disclose such a history, given any choice. And NO I would NOT work in the psych unit where I was once a patient. It seems a horrible idea to me.
So, are there some professions that should be banned to people who have a mental health history? Does amount of time stable after hospitalization matter? Does diagnosis matter?
Who will police this? Is it OK to take a whole category of people and say that "because of your mental health history you might harm others someday and we can't take that chance? You've been stable for 10 years, but we all know mental problems can surface unexpectedly." How far does it go? If we hire someone with a history of mental health problems do we need to require them to sign a form surrendering their privacy rights so that we can do systematic monitoring of their mental health records?
I don't know the answers. I just worry about people being pre-judged in the name of protecting the public when individual risk varies so much.
Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.
Personally, I would find working on the same psych unit where I've been hospitalized to be very awkward. It was bad enough that my admitting nurse was someone I'd worked with in the past.
You do not need to even have a mental history. psychology is not an exact science, but the board will hire their "expert' who will say counseling for ________ a year or so, the board gets copies of your counseling sessions, even if you are there discussing a rape that occurred in your past. All the board has to do is ackowledge allegations, and have reasonable doubt.
basically cya for the Board to protect their positions and pretend they are protecting the public. All the while focusing on their fat retirement they will be getting.
Drs have to do semething very strange and severe to get the same treatment. The Dr brings money into the hospital the nurse costs them money. follow the money trail,
I wouldnt be a nurse again, and be under the Board of Nazis , not when you figure out the power is all theirs and it goes to their heads big time. Who would have thought Boards of nursing acted in this manner???liars stick together , have no consience, will destroy lives and not bat an eye.
All someone has to do is say, you were starring off in space, and you can lose your license.
Jules A, MSN
8,864 Posts
Generally speaking some will have no need to self-disclose as it will be painfully obvious rather quickly.