Disability Discrimination

nurseygrrl, LPN · Oct 24, 2003

I do not have personal experience in this area, but I don't think this is legally or morally right. I would first follow the chain of command, telling each your problem (writing a letter with cc is a good idea too) If you don't get any satisfaction there, I would contact your union rep (if you have a union). I would think they would try to work with you other than lose you altogether. Good luck!

jadednurse · Oct 24, 2003

UntamedSpirit...so sorry to hear this is happening to you. You might want to gather some info from the EEOC website...

http://www.eeoc.gov

kids · Oct 24, 2003

You very possibly have some protection/recoorifice under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

FranEMTnurse, CNA, LPN, EMT-I · Oct 25, 2003

Untamedspirit,

I thought of another option for you as well. Did you think about checking with your state BON? I don't think your employer can force you to work night shifts if they trigger your migrianes.

Another question/suggestion: Did you think of getting a note from your PCP or a Neurologist?

Just some additional ideas you may be able to work with.

((((((((Big Hug!)))))))):kiss

Fran:nurse:

nowplayingEDRN · Oct 28, 2003

Fran,

Got notes from both. They say that they can ask me to resign because when I was hired, I agree'd to work rotating shifts. I said I made it abundantly clear that I had migraines and that I have no control over the fact that they have become a problem.

Jaded,

I did some investigating and found that under Executive Order 13164, they can ask me to resign but that I also have the right to file an EEO complaint...so the next step is to ask a few anonymous questions to see if opening this can of worms is going to be worth my time and aggrevation. In the mean time, I have a couple of interviews lined up.

HerEyes,

No union where I am working, so I am on my own on this one. I have gone up the chain and was basically told the same thing by each one, so that did not help my cause either. One would think that they would rather work with me than loose me but the Fed Gov (Dept of Defense ) does not think like the average person.

Kids,

The Feds have lovely loopholes that they get away with crud that any other place would not be able to get away with. But we shall see what we shall see.....

i will keep everyone posted on how things go.

Thanks for all the input and suggestions.

funnygirl_rn · Oct 28, 2003

Untamed...check your email today!

FranEMTnurse, CNA, LPN, EMT-I · Oct 28, 2003

Hang in there girl, DON'T GIVE UP the fight! If the feds can find loopholes, then you can too. GO GET EM!

nowplayingEDRN · Nov 1, 2003

FUNNY!!!!!!!!! Good to see you girl!!!!!!!! Thanks for the info.....

Fran,

Honey, this little black duck (as Gwenith would say) does not give up very easy. If they want a fight, I'll give them a fight but when I do, I'll make sure every "T" is crossed and every "I" dotted.

I'll keep you posted

-jt · Nov 1, 2003

#1. notify the union and file a grievance for lack of accomodation

#2. no union? American with Disabilities Act requires reasonable accomodation be made. Call your local National Labor Relations Board and file a complaint.

#3. I handled a similar situation for a nurse with sickle cell disease. Rotating shifts disappeared "the year of Noahs flood" here so that wasnt a problem, but she had crisis flare-ups working 12 hr night shifts that threw off her circadian rythmn. Her doctor confirmed this for the hospital and restricted her to day shift work. She worked labor & delivery - they didnt need another full time RN on day shift there but the hospital had to create a day shift position for her because her disability did not allow her to work nights anymore. They didnt want to do it. It took teeth-pulling, arguing, and finally a threat to go for labor relations charges against the hospital for a violation of the American with Disabilities Act before the hospital would work out with us what to do with this nurse. They initially told her if you cant do the job, resign. We said sorry charlie - it doesnt work like that. We looked at the maternal child division & saw it could handle a part-time day position in mother/baby and one in L&D - so we told the hospital to create a full time position for her to float between the 2. They accepted that -- and she was "reasonably accomodated" as the law said she should have been.

The nurse could have declined that position, but then she would have had to resign because the hospital was now "reasonably accomodating her" and thats all they had to do.

PS

Icing on the cake - the hospital had to pay her back-pay for the whole month that she was out of work not able to work nights and not yet having a day shift job to go to.

see the full story:

Defending a nurse's rights

http://www.nysna.org/publications/report/2002/mar/nurses_rights.htm

morale of the story...... look for the union label......

Angelwings49 · Nov 21, 2003

I'm new to this site and would like to share my experience with a work related injury. I am a Registered Nurse of 15 years. I was employed by a hospital and contracted out to a home care agency. My job was to case manage home clients. At times my client load per day was from 6-8. While it may not sound like a heavy load one must keep in mind that the county I live in is huge and it could be 20-40 miles from one case to the next. With each of these visits out of the car came the computer bag, the nursing bag and the paperwork. Then into the clients home and back into the care ready for the next visit. One day in July as I was finishing my last case for the day, as I was putting the computer bag and nursing bag into the care, I felt a pull on my left forearm. I gave it no thought and proceeded to go home. the next morning the pain was not only in the muscle but also in the antecubital area and on the insde and outside of my elbow. I as most of us nurses do, decided to try to treat this thing in hopes of it going away. Two weeks later the pain was getting progressively worse. I had previously informed the supervisor and at that time I did fill out an incident report. On august 7th, I made a drs appointment in hopes that whatever was causing this pain would soon be resolved. I was told that I had medial and lateral epicondylitis. I was placed on a work restriction of no use of left arm and no repetiviteness. I informed the hospital that I was hired by and also the supervisor of the home care agency. As time went on I was still expected to do the 6-8 visits a day, so here I was continuing to carry the equipment I needed in and out of the car. As my luck proceeded, I began having the same symptoms in my right arm. I was in total disbelief that this could possibly occur in my right arm. The following week I went back for my Drs. appointment and informed him about the other arm. By this time I could no longer independently dress myself, comb my hair or even brush my teeth. The pain was so undescribable. It was as if the whole of my independence was taken away. My adls, my Iadls. The Dr. then placed me on 4 hours of work a day, with no lifting greater than 5 pounds, and no repetitious activities. Well, my case load decreased to 3-4 and at times 5 in a 4 hour period. I could no longer carry that ole computer bag in and out of every home. By the end of 2 weeks I was over 30 notes behind. I kept telling the supervisor that I was sinking and I had to get the notes caught up. Being that one of my restrictions was no repetition, I informed her I could not sit and type for 4 hours a day. It mattered not. My clients were given to another nurse and I was told I could not do any home visits until all my notes were caught up. By this time I was collecting temporary partial compensation benefits. Needless to say, I had to sit for 4 hours a day and in lieu of the pain and the restrictions I managed to get the notes caught up so I could resume my home visits the following week. As my luck continues the supervisor gave me 2 start of cares on a saturday and 3 on a sunday. No one must know that each start of care without the use of the computer was from one to one and a half hours, keeping in mind the traveling in between from case to case. My experience told me that for each start it meant 2 hours of keyboarding. Thus 5 starts =10 hours. I had informed the suypervisor that she was expecting me to do the unexpected. Her reply,"there is no one else and it has to be done". What alternatives did I have? I could think of several, but none whcih would have been a professional reply. So off I went, on the Saturday I ended up working 5 hours and 6 hours on Sunday. by the time I got home the pain was so severe that I took some motrin and went to bed. Being the next day was Monday and I had 10 hours of keyboarding ahead of me I called the supervisor and told her I needed help with entering the information into the laptop. Her reply, "Well you have 2 visits today, plus I need to have you do another start of care. OOOOOOOOOH my God went through my head. Anothe start and an additional 2 hours of keyboarding on top of the 10 still waiting for me. No need to remind her, she cared not. I got through that day and was so thankful to have the next day off. And then, back to work iwth a call to her in the morning to inform her that I needed some time to get some work done on the laptop and also reminding her I could not sit hour after hour on that computer. And guess what? Yep.........she gave me 2 more start of cares. NO way could I ever complete them. Another interesting point to keep in mind. You have 7 days to get each start of care completed, locked and into the state. I at this time was frustrated beyond frustration. I now have 8 starts to get done, plus the scheduled visits i had completed. The week end was here and I was off. Monday came and as required I called the supervisor only to have her tell me I HAD to find some time and get the computer notes done. What good to try telling her, the notes were not done at no fault of mine. Hmmmmm, I don't think she believed me. So once again, I am imprisoned to the confines of the computer. Ergonomics......not in the slightest. I spent my 4 hours that day typing in spite of my discomfort. I had reminded the supervisor that she was going against my restrictions not only with the repetiveness but that I also had worked over my 4 hour restriction on 6 occasions. She proceeded to inform me that I had to call my Dr. and have him change my restriction from 4 hrs a day to 4-6 hrs/day, "So the agency and the hospital don't get into trouble". "make it your priority". I was stunned and could not believe what I had heard. I then called the home care director at the hospital that hired me and informed her of this. she said, no they can not ask that of you. The next day, the supervisor called me and told me to call the home care director and tell her that her and I had talked and that I had misunderstood what she said to me. MISUNDERSTOOD, no I understood very well what she said to me. From here on nothing went right. Not that it did from the beginning. I ended up being placed on a one hour a day typing restriction. My left arm ended up swelling from the elbow to the wrist. From overuse per the Dr. So now here I was with even a tighter restriction. I was getting phone calls 1-2 times from the case manager from compensation. I kept her updated as to the course this was taking and things that were said to me. I asked her about the legality of what was happening to me and she had suggested I contact a lawyer. Which I did and found out alot more information. The human resource director called me and informed me that she had set up an appointment with the case manager from compensation and I had to be there. I told her I had to update my lawyer as to that meeting and I would get back to her. Per my lawyer, do not meet with any one. It can be arranged so I can be there, I was told. So this I told to the personel director. I went to work the next day and again was told that I could not do my home visits due to being so far behind on my computer notes and I was out of compliance because they were not done in the 7 day time frame. I just shook my head and proceeded to the imprisonment of that lap top again. The end of the week finally arrived. I was called inot the home care agency directors office and was told they could no longer meet my restrictions and I was to turn in my computer and my nursing bag. I was dumbfounded. Once they learned I had conferenced with a lawyer, it seemed like a great reason to get rid of me. I felt more of a relief that sorrow. I then called the hospital that I was hired by and asked it I could my 4 hours a day in the hospital or nursing home only to be told that the light duty is just for hospital employes. I stated, "well gee, I have a card that says I am an employee and also in the employees handbook it states that you will meet every light duty restriction. "I'll have to call you back". That was on 10/31/03. No call came. Instead I got a letter stating that the home care agency had elininated the RN position and replaced it with an LPN for "cost-effectiveness" and therefore my employment was terminated as of 11/7/03. So here I am collecting partial compensation and have since applied for partail unemployment. Several application I have sent out. Will anyone hire me with my restrictions? It appears not. As I sit and recall my years of nursing many thoughts come to my mind. How on earth can people be sor heartless. Does corporate monies mean more than a persons health and well being? It appears to be. Where will this all end up? I'm not sure. I gave so much of myself to the healthcare field over the past several years, I went above and beyond my call of duty more times than not and never felt any remorse in doing so. I was there when I was needed and even when not needed. I just can't understnad how people can be so ruthless and heartless and not care about a fellow nurse. Hopefully things will work out and someone out there will give me a chance to prove that I am a good person and a great nurse. thanks for listening. And yes, I understand how you feel.

Angel

FranEMTnurse, CNA, LPN, EMT-I · Nov 21, 2003

Dear Angel,

I'm so sorry to hear about what happened to you. But unfortunately, yes, what you say is true in far too many cases. Nursing has turned into a production line for the almighty dollar.

I posted a thread titled, Modern Nursing vs How It Used To Be in the general nursing forums area. It might give you some comfort to read that message, as I share some of my personal experiences toward the end of the thread.

Also, I feel what you talked about, because I got a 50 centimeter tear in my rotator cuff while I was in nursing school. It happened during a patient transfer from the stretcher to the bed. And of course since the regular staff always rushed to the pulling side, I was left on the pushing side. I felt it give way as I was lifting the patient during the transfer.

I immediately went to my nursing instructor, and told her what happened, that I needed to fill out an incident report. Her reply?

Incident reports are only for staff members to complete, and I understand what you're talking about. Every time I place my arm on the top of the seat to look back while in my car, I get that.

Not being satisfied with that, I went to the charge nurse in the ER where I was working the next day, and after I told her what happened, she looked at me like,:stone

And because I had no job, no health insurance, no income, other than the money I already had from the sale of my mobile home, I went to school and clinicals every day for an entire semester in severe pain that eventually radiated down both arms. I coped by taking 800mg of Ibuprophen every morning before leaving, and without fail, gave me nausea every time.Toward the end that wasn't even enough, so I kept asking my instructor for some of hers.

I eventually had an open rotator cuff repair done, and now have a four inch scar on my right shoulder.

I wish you well.

Fran:nurse: