Wow.....a lot of nurses here.

I just want to add that the idea that the ADA protects us from being terminated due to mental illness is a MYTH. It didn't do a thing for me when my employer refused to make reasonable accommodations for my illness, even though one was only temporary! It was clear that I couldn't do the job without those accommodations, but the company's office-full of lawyers had already decided that they would pose "undue hardship" and I was let go.

All my pdoc and I asked for were a couple of quiet, uninterrupted work hours each day, the continuation of my four-day work week, and a short period of time when high-stress confrontations could be dealt with by other managers so I could get back on my feet emotionally. Hardly what I'd consider undue hardship, especially since I was a hard worker and had been there for quite some time; but that's what they called it and they didn't even TRY to work with me.

I suppose I could've fought it, but I had neither the resources nor the will to slog through the long process of filing suit with the EEOC, let alone a court battle, and besides....what would I have gotten out of it? My job? Why ever would I have wanted to go back to work for people who'd kicked me while I was down? Back pay would've been nice, but it wasn't worth the emotional damage the fight would have inflicted. So I let it go, but my faith in the ADA was shot to hell because there's always going to be some smart corporate lawyer who gets paid to find ways around the law.