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Discussion

Back injuries

My name is Carmen and I graduated nursing school with a BSN . I injured my back at work in 2000 and I am in constant pain . I herniated my lumbar disk at L5 S1 and I have sciatic pain with sitting, or exertion or walking or standing. I would like to go back to work but first I must find an employer who will excuse me from work on cold days, rainy days and cloudy days, let me lay down when the pain is real bad and excuse my foggy mind after I take pain medication. My injury is very common among bedside nurses in fact it is indemic to nursing but nobody wants to acknowledge or talk about this huge problem in nursing and so more nurses are being injured as I write. Is the nursing shortage not being affected when 12% of the nursing force leaves nursing completly,and 38% take time off with preventable back pain? I spend a lot of money and time getting my degree for nothing,because that's what I have now. After 5 years I am finally going to court this week about my injury and I will probably get nothing to go along with the rest of my nothing.

Featured Replies

Good luck to you. I'm sorry you're in pain. It's such a sad reality that so many of us wind up with injuries, then be tossed asside.

Good luck in court.

  • Author

How many of you angels of mercy know that every time you lift more than 59 pounds you do damage to your lumbar disks which will eventually cause you severe pain and disability? 80% of nurses complain of back pain and 12% leave nursing, never to return. Do you think that maybe this can have an impact on the nursing shortage? Did you know that there was legislation for an ergonomic standard to save our backs and Secratary Chao shot it down? It has been documented for many years that nurses injure their backs at an alarming rate yet we are not told this before we invest thousands in a profession that could very well maime us fo life. I became well informed too late and I can't believe how dumb I was before my devastating back injury. Our nursing leaders are too busy smooching administrators and being their yes man to address the needs of American nurses or else they would have solved this problem like other countries like Canada have.

I have had problems with my back occasionally over the past 30 years that I've been a nurse. Lately I've been having alot of problems with my back. It started at home when I was just bending over to pick up something. I have decided that I will not lift or pull at work anymore. I can help turn or pull the patient up in the bed if I am on the right side of the bed, other than that my co-workers will just have to understand and so far they've been very good. I need to work for another 10 years and I can't risk a permanent injury.

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