Job where I was a patient?

[Lemur]

This is probably a stupid question as I think I already know the answer;

I'm looking into becoming a health care assistant on a mental health ward; there are job vacancies as a bank HCA. BUT it would be working at the unit where I've previously been a patient. Is it a complete no go or would they consider me for the position??

[Aubergine]

I'm not sure.

I think it might depend on how long ago you were a patient.

On my local ward, there is an ex-patient who works there, but he didn't get a job there until about 20 years after his time as an inpatient.

Could you phone and ask?

[Lemur]

I was discharged at the end of April, so only 4 and a bit months ago. Re thinking it's probably a very silly idea. Just I've always been interested in working in mental health and saw the job vacancy! I expect they want you to have been "recovered" for much longer than that.

[Aubergine]

In all honesty, I think they would want you to have been out of the unit for longer than that. Legally they can't discriminate, but they might be able to make a case for not employing you.

I don't think it's silly at all. In fact, I think it's commendable that you want to support others experiencing mental health issues. It just might be that you have to find another way to do it. :)

*hug*

[~invisible~girl~]

I think that four months likely isn't nearly long enough. It's not so much an issue of having been recovered for long enough, depending what you're doing (for some type of mental health work, you do need to be emotionally very strong, and it could be an issue just in terms of your own welfare), but more how it's implications for maintaining appropriate professional relationships.

For one thing, it would that the people who provided your mental health care before would become your coworkers, which could be uncomfortable both for you and for them. It would mean working with people who know a lot about you, and who are used to maintaining a professional distance from you (i.e. not revealing too much about themselves), which could be uncomfortable on both sides. But at the same time they'd probably be happy to see you functioning so well, and might really enjoy having you there as a staff member.

But the bigger problem is the risk that you might encounter patients there who were there when you were a patient, and have either remained in inpatient, or have been readmitted. There would be serious clinical and ethical concerns with you providing care for a patient in that situation, especially if you had ever been in group therapy or other group activities with the person. It's generally forbidden for mental health providers and their patients to have significant interaction outside of the therapeutic relationship (for instance, working together, being in the same therapy group, or even just taking a class together). And while it's generally discouraged for clients and therapists to interact in other contexts for some time (generally 6 months to 2 years) after treatment has ended, it's much more strictly forbidden to enter into a client-therapist relationship with someone with who you have a significant previous relationship. In other words, you can't provide mental health care to someone you already know from somewhere else. And having been in inpatient treatment together would definitely fall into that category.

But that said, there's no harm in sending in an application anyway. Maybe it'll turn out that they have something available in a different program than you were in (for instance, a different age group, or a different level of treatment), and it won't be a problem at all.

Also, I think it's great that you want to go into mental health. Of course because you'll be helping others, which is always good. But also from a more practical perspective, it's hard to find a work environment that would be more understanding and supportive of mental health issues, which could be really helpful for you to continue on the path you're on now, and not end up losing any of the progress you made during inpatient and since you were discharged.

[snailonvalium]

To add to what the others have said,Im about to volunteer for the nhs and human resources have said they won't let me work on the ward I've been a patient in case i become ill at any point and become a patient there again. X

[Ballerina123]

It depends on how well you are.
If you are pretty well and will not get triggered by other patients and if you can put the patient needs first then it is fine.

I have known a few people who have worked where they were a patient and as long as you stay professional at all times then it is no problem.

The consultant clinical psychologist at my eating disorder unit had been a previous patient there. It was what interested her in the carer once she recovered. Everyone knew she use to be a patient but she kept her private life to herself and worked professionally at all times. She was really good at her job.

If your well go for it.
If you are still a little unstable maybe think about something a bit easier till you are more well.
It all about what you can manage.

[random.swirls]

Well I am hopefully about to start working for my trust as a Peer Support Worker and will thus at times have to go into the ward I was a patient in last Christmas (I have had 3 admissions there).

It will be awkward but my role is using my experience of mental illness to help others so it's slightly different to your role as my qualification so to speak is being ill!!

I personally think 4 months is to soon as surely you will encounter patients who you were friends with and their would be ethical issues with this (I won't be allowed to work with anyone I know in a friends capacity due to boundaries). I also think it will be hard interacting with the staff who know you in part because they would probably find it difficult to see you as a colleague and how you feel being kept at arms lengths and treated differently?

I don't think it's a barrier going forward and maybe a year or two down the line it could be a great experience but right now I would tread cautiously.

All this said is it worth looking in your area for any peer support oppurtunities?

[Lemur]

Thank you for all of your replies! I'm actually thinking of enrolling on a level 3 health and social care course at college, because;
1) it's a two year course so that gives me time to know I am "recovered" and will show employers that I am.
2) by that time I may have moved/drive and so can get a job in another area.
3) even though some places, and in bank nursing- they offer to train you do no qualifications needed, if I already had the qualification it would mean that I'd have a better chance at job opportunities.

I completely agree that getting a job working in the unit I was on ( 3 wards and 2 of which I was a patient ) is a bad idea. It's too close to come and crosses too many boundaries.

But then at the same time I would rather not have to wait another 2 years to get a job that I want! Hence why bank working would be ideal as they will train you; but I'm limited to which area I can work as I don't drive. Ah decisions decisions. And I'd need to apply quickly for college as the course starts next week!

Not sure what to do!

[Ballerina123]

Do you have to work on mh wards? Can you not go on the medical bank at your local hospital or do a shift or 2 a week at a nursing home?
Have you looked at NHS professional?

[~invisible~girl~]

I think that enrolling in the course you described sounds like a GREAT idea. I think that because of the nature of the course, and consequently, the people who would be teaching it, it's likely to be a relatively supportive environment (I think I mentioned that as one of the advantages of working in a mental health setting), which should help the transition out of more intensive treatment and into more work and such go more smoothly. In terms of qualifications, I don't know what it's like over there, but around here, it's almost impossible to get most jobs with only the minimum qualifications. Like for me, I have a BA in psychology (with a pretty impressive academic record, I might add), and a respectable amount of experience for my age (I'm not even two years out of university, so I don't have a lot of experience, but what I do have includes some pretty impressive places, and I'd have great recommendations I could even get that far), but even places that say you don't even have to have finished university yet (you just have to be within six months of graduating) won't even consider hiring me, even if they haven't found anyone better yet (basically, they won't even give me an interview or anything, just flat out rejection without looking any farther than my resume, even though they're still advertising to actively recruit applicants for the position I was supposedly plenty qualified for). But the thing is, good jobs in this field are hard to find at the moment, especially ones that offer health benefits (we don't have the NHS over here, and most people get the health insurance through their employer, and while private, individual insurance does exist, it's extremely expensive -- for a plan that comes even close to what I have no, with my mom's insurance, it could easily cost, well, significantly more than what I pay in rent, and even the cheapest plans are well over $100/month, but would also mean that I'd have to pay up to $10,000 out-of-pocket each year before my insurance would even start to cover anything -- so jobs that offer health insurance, which most full-time jobs are required to do, are in pretty high demand). So basically, it means that the people who are actually getting the jobs are generally going to be way over-qualified. Why higher someone who's barely out of university with just a BA if you can have someone with a master's degree and 15 years experience for the same price? Might be different over there though -- I don't know what the employment scene is like in the UK, and definitely the health benefits business is a non-issue since you've got the NHS, but based on my experience over here, I'd DEFINITELY recommend you get the qualifications before you apply for the job, rather than asking your prospective employer to provide the training.

I have to say though, as I'm thinking about this, there's definitely a part of me that thinks that working in the unit where you were a patient has the potential to be a really great situation for you, if only it were set up for that. I definitely don't think that it would be a good idea based on how things work... more just that I feel like there ought way that mental health units could set things such that it could work really well to employ former patients (if they were really careful about how they allocated work and such to protect everyone involved from potential issues with conflicts of interest and boundaries and all that). In the right context, it could definitely be a really positive thing for current patients to interact with staff who have been where they are (even quite recently, and potentially even people they first met as patients themselves), and it could definitely be a great way for former patients to transition into "normal" life, as it would mean that your care team, who already knew you and what you were going through, would be there with you at work to support you (and with the program I'm imagining, there would be multiple former patients working there at any given time, which could be your primary peer group). I don't know, I'm not sure it's really a fully formed idea, I know I haven't fully thought it through, and it's kind of off-topic anyway, but even though I feel like working in a unit where you were recently a patient (and yes, four months is still recent -- it's as much a matter of staff and patient turn-over as anything else) is not an ideal situation, there's a part of me that feels like it really *should* be, cause it just seems like there's so much potential there for it to benefit everyone involved if it were set up right...

[bitomato]

Maybe if you cannot be employed formally in the post they will allowing you to volunteer. It will not be "hiding" that you were a former patient there, but your goals would be about returning to work and maybe if you aim to do a certain amount of hours you can then use them in support of applying for a post elsewhere. If you became ill again, is there anywhere else for you to be treated. That is my issue as there is only one hospital in my country, so I have to be cared for at home- and it makes it really expensive.

People treat you differently when they know you have a mental health issue- so you have to decide if you can manage with that. Don't give up on your studies though. There is a job out there for you!

[Lemur]

Thankyou all so so much for your replies! After giving it a lot of thought what I've decided to do is apply for jobs in elderly/dementia/care homes which offer to train you whilst you work for your nvq2. That way I can get experience and gain my qualification at the same time. Also by the time I gain the qualification I hope to have a car, do then can start looking at jobs in hospitals/units/mental health residential homes that don't have to be so close to home.

I think getting a job on the unit I was in is a big no no, but there are a couple of locked units, one mixed and one women's around my area, and many MH within a 30mile radius.

I've found a few elderly care homes with job vacancies willing to train, so I think that may be the best option. It'll get me used to care work and get me the qualification to then go on to get a job in a mental health ward/unit.

Thank you all so so much for your replies they really have been so very helpful!

Now need to get my cv sorted!