Applying for 1st job out of school with RSD

[WarEagled]

I completed my last year of nursing school with a broken foot and planned surgery after graduation. I did not apply for jobs because I wanted to allow ample recovery time and not hurt potential employer with a long recovery. The recovery was complicated by a diagnosis of reflex sympathetic dystrophy, the underlying cause of the previous injury as it turns out.

I could barely walk, but I've worked hard and am finally walking well and wearing shoes. How should I address the 10 months between graduation and applying for a job??? The past two months I got a low paying part time job to help prepare for working as a nurse. Do I mention the surgery, but not go into detail? Do I tell about the RSD? Aren't you entitled to privacy about disabilities?

I am a very open and honest person. I feel like this experience has matured me beyond my years. This experience has changed me and I know it will improve my ability to care for patients in some ways. But several people have told me not to mention it because I won't get hired. I would love some first hand advice.

[momRNmy]

WarEagled, if it were me, I would do almost anything minus lying to paint a diagnosis of RSD in the most favorable light possible. Be completely upfront about the surgery, but be as ambiguous as possible about the complication. Diagnosed with CRPS a few years ago, my experience was very negative as my employer chose to treat my condition like the plague. Once you reveal the diagnosis, you could be opening yourself up to a whole bunch of bad in terms of jumping through hoops, fitness for duty examinations, and possibly discrimination regardless of your ability to perform the job satisfactorily. Not much is known about RSD/CRPS, and I suppose fear of the unknown scares employers in the healthcare industry enough to justify excluding employees with the condition from working. Good luck!