by faroe78

I am an RN who became disabled in July 2007, after a serious illness.I had acute pancreatitis, acute respiratory failure, & ended up vented & in a coma for a few days. When I came out of the coma, I had gait disturbance, balance issues, & loss of stamina & strength. I was living in Oregon, & relocated to Iowa to recuperate near family. I've gone through PT & OT, and speech therapy. Had to use a walker for a time, then a cane. As time went on, I improved, & grew stronger. Now, I'm great. Sometimes, my legs are a bit weak, in that when I go to stand, sometimes, I can't on the first try, & have to try again. I always make it on the second try. I am great, though, and ready to get back to work.
My work history is that I graduated nursing school in late 1995, began work as an RN in 1996. I worked up until July 2007. I worked acute care all that time, mostly orthopaedics. I'm having a hard time getting back to acute care. I have tried long term care, but was let go from one job & had to quit another when I got sick with a viral URI (there's more to that but that would make this ungodly long).
I keep hearing about a nursing shortage, I am not sure there is one. Not in Iowa anyhow. I get interviewed & rejected. I suck at long term care, but I acknowledge it's hard work. Harder than acute care. I have heard there is freeze on nursing jobs in Des Moines, & so I am starting to look further afield, like Nebraska or Wisconsin.
Is there something else I should be doing? When I can afford it, I plan to work on getting some CEU's, esp in medications, assessments, & documentation. I have also begun to consider nursing refresher courses, although Iowa has no programs that I can find. There's always Missouri & Nebraska. I'm trying just for some stopgap jobs at this point, just to keep the rent paid & lights on. My German Shepherd says don't forget the dogfood.
Any helpful ideas would be awesome. I know I can do the work, I think about it all the time & I'd give most anything to get back to it.
Thanks in advance!
Susan

Re: Re-entry after disability?

Not sure on telephone triage but may want to check out the forum Telephone Triage Nursing forum