Would it matter if someone wanting to go into nursing had

EricJRN, MSN, RN · Jul 24, 2006

Best to check with the board of nursing in your province. Here in the US, many BON's require things like personality disorders, substance abuse and biploar disorders to be disclosed on licensure applications. The boards make individual decisions from there.

LanaBanana · Jul 24, 2006

I don't normally talk about this, but I was diagnosed with borderline several years ago and had severe depression. I self-mutilated a lot and basically wanted to die. Through LOTS of therapy (DBT) and finally finding the right meds (hooray for Cymbalta!) I am doing WONDERFUL. I love life now and love myself. My mind is finally clear from the depression and I am excelling in all my classes. I talked to my therapist about it and she said I no longer meet the criteria for a borderline diagnosis, so it shouldn't be a problem. And my depression is also listed as in remission. I am very conscious to keep in touch with my therapist throughout nursing school and even more as I start into a nursing job just to keep myself and my problems in check. It's better to stay on top of them! Also, our BON doesn't ask about personality disorders or depression. If they asked about depression, there would be a lot of people not eligible - half of my class is on antidepressants!

Goodluck! Make sure you have your problems in check before you take this step.

CharlieRN · Jul 27, 2006

I don't know about licensure requirements. My employer wants potential psych treatment staff to be out of treatment and symptom free for 2 years.

I sure there are plenty of depressed nurses with borderline traits working in non psych positions.

LanaBanana · Jul 27, 2006

I don't know about licensure requirements. My employer wants potential psych treatment staff to be out of treatment and symptom free for 2 years.
I sure there are plenty of depressed nurses with borderline traits working in non psych positions.

Yes, and I don't think I could ever work psych. I think I would be too likely to share my own experiences with treatment and recovery and that can be dangerous. I'm not sure I could be as objective either. I am looking forward to doing my psych clinical rotation though just to what things are like on the other side of the picture.

allnurses Guide · Jul 29, 2006

Wow, I've never heard of the BON or even an employer requiring disclosure of *any* medical problems, physical or mental. I've never been asked about it. I mean, I know employers do background checks and I suppose anything relevant to whether or not a person should be a nurse or be hired, would show up on the criminal background check.

I have a pretty strong history of anxiety and depression myself, though I'm not currently in treatment and I *think* it has actually been two years since I saw my psych NP.

I can certainly understand that an employer wants their employee to be healthy enough to do their particular job, and now that I'm thinking about it, I know that employers do list certain tasks required for the job and ask if you are physically or mentally unable to do any of those tasks. But I've never heard of them actually point blank asking about certain diagnoses, or asking how long it's been since someone has been out of treatment for a certain diagnosis. That seems... almost illegal?