Crazy knee pain from injury

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Hey everyone! Im a senior nursing student and have really bad knee pain from an injury 6 months ago. I've been diagnosed with patellar femoral pain syndrome, which is just a fancy diagnosis for they don't know exactly what's causing the pain. But once it's there, all one can do is symptom management and prevention of further injury. The pain is intense. Im always in pain. It has diminished my quality of life. I used to be very active with martial arts, lifting weights , dancing etc. Now all I can do is walk and even that hurts a ton. BUT Im determined to not let that get me down. I don't want to be a victim to my circumstances. I want to get out there and be there best nurse I can be. What kind of career paths can I follow? I can still walk so I can work as a floor nurse. It's just bothersome from the pain. I've thought about maybe taking a pain medication with an opioid component to it. But I'm not sure if that will potentially affect my work performance. What do you suggest I do?

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Specializes in CEN, TCRN.

Being a new grad makes it nearly impossible to avoid being a floor nurse for at least a little while; therefore I think you should consider your pain management options and get it addressed. Then when you have enough experience, if you want to reduce your reliance on pain management, look at jobs that don't require much walking or standing, like working in an office or tele-nursing.

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Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.

OP...Welcome to AN! The largest online nursing community!

It is difficult dealing with pain of any kind. I am so sorry you are experiencing such pain. As per the Terms of Service we cannot offer any medical advice

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I think you should speak with your PCP and come up with options which could include physical therapy and Rx for you.

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