When people talk about needing disability because their knee/back/hip hurts when they stand do they not know there are jobs that don't require much standing besides going to the bathroom?
When some say they need it for anxiety yet are able to go party on the weekends? (Don't get me wrong I have anxiety myself but I have also worked since I was 16).
Do some people feel entitled? Not think? Think they don't need to help themselves and lose weight to ease the stress on their joints?
Again kind of a rant but also a little curious if there's a side I'm not seeing.
And I grew up poor with food stamps and hand me downs from friends of the family and Medicaid. I know what it means to need help.
Specializes in Cardiac, Home Health, Primary Care.
Many of the findings in the NPR article are consistent with what I see in my clinics. Especially for people with minimal education, or the plant closes and they need retraining, or they have a job-related injury, disability is the new welfare. I rarely see professional, managerial, technical or healthcare people putting in for Federal disability.
But disability has also become a de facto welfare program for people without a lot of education or job skills. But it wasn't supposed to serve this purpose; it's not a retraining program designed to get people back onto their feet. Once people go onto disability, they almost never go back to work. Fewer than 1 percent of those who were on the federal program for disabled workers at the beginning of 2011 have returned to the workforce since then, one economist told me.
People who leave the workforce and go on disability qualify for Medicare, the government health care program that also covers the elderly. They also get disability payments from the government of about $13,000 a year. This isn't great. But if your alternative is a minimum wage job that will pay you at most $15,000 a year, and probably does not include health insurance, disability may be a better option.
The article makes sense but it also aggravates me. I made good grades in school, got scholarships for my BSN, have lived within my means, paid for my MSN to get where I am now. I have a 1000 square foot house on 1/3 of an acre. I still have cheap furniture and buy from thrift stores. I don't smoke, don't drink, don't do drugs, haven't made irresponsible decisions leading to kids or arrests.
It's a matter of personal responsibility to me. I don't want kids to suffer but at the same time I think it's much more responsible to take advantage of FREE birth control/condoms from a local health dept than to have several kids with different dads or different moms.
Again I'm partly venting but it is extremely aggravating. Diabetes is not a disability. A bad knee is not a disability. I had a BL AKA patient who had his family put a seat belt on his lawn mower so he could still take care of his yard. These other people can do something.
Willpower issue. Some people can hack life others can't. Sure there are people who are LEGIT disabled (work accidents, REAL medical conditions, or decent percentage of vets) but some people just have that personality to worm there way out of anything that requires work.
My workplace is so rampant with patients on SSI/SSDI or variants of DSHS that I don't even bother asking patient's about their work lives because I know the answer.
Oh, and to see the whole families on "disability" of some sort, with their kids doing nothing in the middle of school day because "they just feel like that today" or "slept too long", doing "garden parties" all the time (my unit's slang of families hanging out in the room of comatose patient), fighting for keeping the poor soul "full code" because they can pocket his or her SSI checks till he is, to say that technically, alive!
Instead of being irritated about some idiot's words in some obscure show named "The View" and parading their stethoscopes for the whole virtual world to see, if we nurses banged together and spoke about futile treatments and their profound negative effects, for just one example of real issues of American healthcare, we would do some real good to this country.
The tone of this thread concerns me. I am currently on disability and have been since March 2008. I fought going on disability for about 18 months because I didn't want to give up my nursing career. It was a heart wrenching decision to have to make and I have struggled with it almost everyday since. My goal since that day has been--and continues to be--to return to my nursing career. Unfortunately, my body doesn't seem to want to get on board with my plan. It has nothing to do with me "not being able to hack life" and if all it took was "willpower" I would have returned to work long ago. Actually, I would have never left.
I was diagnosed with RSD/CRPS of the neck, right arm & shoulder in Nov. 2006. By the time I went on disability it had spread to my left arm & shoulder, my chest wall, my upper & mid back and was affecting my heart (tachycardia & SVT), stomach (gastroparesis) and causing bone marrow depression.
I have sought almost every treatment available (often at my own expense) to get this disease under control and return to work. About 20 months ago I started ketamine infusions--4 days in a row every 4-6 weeks. They have helped tremendously and through intense physical therapy I have regained the use of my arms. I was looking forward to taking a nursing refresher course/clinical this fall. My RN license has been on inactive status since 2010 and this course/clinical is one of the requirements to reinstate it.
Unfortunately, RSD/CRPS can also causes bone thinning and in May I suffered a spontaneous tibial plateau fracture. Recovery is long & difficult but was going well until suddenly it wasn't. Two weeks ago I suffered a re-fracture due to non-union. Surgery was 9/17. Twelve more weeks non-weight bearing followed by 3-6 months of physical therapy before I will be able to walk again. Looks like that refresher course will have to wait until at least next fall.
My point is that I believe most people on disability are just like me. Call me niave or whatever--but why would anyone chose this? I do not enjoy staying home every day. Sure a staycation is nice for a week, maybe two, but every day--not so much. Add to that the physical limitations of a disability--not being able to do simple things on your own like wash your hair, fix a meal, go grocery shopping. Sound like fun yet? No? Then add to that society's view on the disabled--we're either invisible or a drain on "their" tax dollars. Forget the fact that I also paid those taxes from age 16-40. And while we're discussing finances, I also enjoy receiving less than 1/4 of the income that I received when I was working as a RN. I fail to see why anyone would chose this.
I'm sorry. I know I'm ranting and I am overly sensitive about this topic but I really hurts to see a group of people to whom I have the unfortunate luck to be a part of so easily dismissed. Dranger, I'm not trying to call you out but saying you don't even bother to ask people about their work history any more because so many of your patient population are on SSDI/SSI... really?
Everybody I've known who has been on disability earned it. They worked for 20-40 years and hurt themselves physically and mentally for the job. In all the cases I know personally, the people had to FIGHT to get disability, for years.
And it was by no means worth it. They still had to have help from friends and family for anything more than the basics of life.
Maybe y'all have seen only the bad apples in your environment.
Specializes in Cardiac, Home Health, Primary Care.
The tone of this thread concerns me. I am currently on disability and have been since March 2008. I fought going on disability for about 18 months because I didn't want to give up my nursing career. It was a heart wrenching decision to have to make and I have struggled with it almost everyday since. My goal since that day has been--and continues to be--to return to my nursing career. Unfortunately, my body doesn't seem to want to get on board with my plan. It has nothing to do with me "not being able to hack life" and if all it took was "willpower" I would have returned to work long ago. Actually, I would have never left.
I was diagnosed with RSD/CRPS of the neck, right arm & shoulder in Nov. 2006. By the time I went on disability it had spread to my left arm & shoulder, my chest wall, my upper & mid back and was affecting my heart (tachycardia & SVT), stomach (gastroparesis) and causing bone marrow depression.
I have sought almost every treatment available (often at my own expense) to get this disease under control and return to work. About 20 months ago I started ketamine infusions--4 days in a row every 4-6 weeks. They have helped tremendously and through intense physical therapy I have regained the use of my arms. I was looking forward to taking a nursing refresher course/clinical this fall. My RN license has been on inactive status since 2010 and this course/clinical is one of the requirements to reinstate it.
Unfortunately, RSD/CRPS can also causes bone thinning and in May I suffered a spontaneous tibial plateau fracture. Recovery is long & difficult but was going well until suddenly it wasn't. Two weeks ago I suffered a re-fracture due to non-union. Surgery was 9/17. Twelve more weeks non-weight bearing followed by 3-6 months of physical therapy before I will be able to walk again. Looks like that refresher course will have to wait until at least next fall.
My point is that I believe most people on disability are just like me. Call me niave or whatever--but why would anyone chose this? I do not enjoy staying home every day. Sure a staycation is nice for a week, maybe two, but every day--not so much. Add to that the physical limitations of a disability--not being able to do simple things on your own like wash your hair, fix a meal, go grocery shopping. Sound like fun yet? No? Then add to that society's view on the disabled--we're either invisible or a drain on "their" tax dollars. Forget the fact that I also paid those taxes from age 16-40. And while we're discussing finances, I also enjoy receiving less than 1/4 of the income that I received when I was working as a RN. I fail to see why anyone would chose this.
I'm sorry. I know I'm ranting and I am overly sensitive about this topic but I really hurts to see a group of people to whom I have the unfortunate luck to be a part of so easily dismissed. Dranger, I'm not trying to call you out but saying you don't even bother to ask people about their work history any more because so many of your patient population are on SSDI/SSI... really?
I was ranting as well starting the thread. And I know most people on disability truly need it. It's always those bad apples (just like with any group of people) that give us all headaches.
I am just thankful that I do not make these decisions in my clinic as I am only there on my MD's days off and that's how I like it. He is the primary provider who makes those decisions.
It's also the huge effect of a decision that makes me never want to do a truckers physical (I have totally spaced on what they are called!).
Specializes in Cardiac, Home Health, Primary Care.
This thread has a really Judgy McJudgerson tone.
Everybody I've known who has been on disability earned it. They worked for 20-40 years and hurt themselves physically and mentally for the job. In all the cases I know personally, the people had to FIGHT to get disability, for years.
And it was by no means worth it. They still had to have help from friends and family for anything more than the basics of life.
Maybe y'all have seen only the bad apples in your environment.
Lol. I mentioned bad apples before I even read your response! I don't know who is on disability and who isn't in my clinic. I just know of a couple who are trying to get it who I (and the primary MD) don't think truly qualify.
It's just sad cause I'm telling these other chronic patients they need to accept their limitations for their safety.
You can get special accommodations because you have been bullied?...WOW? Could it be that it includes not having to work with someone. I have had a male nurse that has been after me for years....not sure why...I think it's a pathological professional jealousy...others think he is attracted to me. He will do anything to try and get me trouble and make me miserable and that includes lying and stirring up trouble behind my back. I have actually grown to despise this person!
This is scary stalker-ish behavior. I would do something about, whether it is filing a police report, something. This is serious scary stuff.
Generally if someone is unable to perform their job, then please accommodate them!! Do you really want to rely on someone who is expected to respond accordingly, but does not because they can not?!
I live in an area where the unemployment rate is so high most people know exactly which lawyer to go to so they can get in disability--it's easier than working plus you get health insurance.
They can do it because nothing is wrong with them. Just like the prescription drug addict knows which sympathetic doctor to go to, those that play the system know exactly how to get their disability.
Anxiety, speaking as somebody with it, doesn't always mean that we can't go out.
And yes, it's easy to look at somebody who is on disability and wonder what doctor they had to bribe, but remember. Not all disabilities are visible, and not all of them are crippling.
And this is coming from somebody who could go on disability, but is too stubborn to. I like working, physical and mental issues aside, and will do so for as long as I can.
Some units become, for lack of a better word, dumping grounds for these staff members. It destroys unit morale. I've worked a shift where out of ten on the floor only two of us where fully able to boost a patient in bed.
Back to this, instead of talking about disabled patients -
I am all for accommodating a few people, but at what point is it okay to sacrifice the healthier staff members so the staff members with bad backs can be protected? A shift like you just described is unacceptable.
I wonder if one of the nurses with a good back got injured on a shift like you described, if she'd be able to sue the employer for failing to provide a safe work environment. A shift where you had to move just about every patient on the floor instead of just your own patients should fall under the category of unsafe.
...Not to mention it's unsafe for the patients. What would happen if there was a code while the patient was on the toilet? Exactly how would anybody be able to get the patient to the floor or bed to do compressions if most of the staff had backs so bad they couldn't even move a patient in the bed? How effective would their compressions be, anyway?
In my system the staff who are "duty to accommodate" are meant to be invisible on the units, as in we are not meant to know of their "disability".
But we know who most of them are because they tell us! One was an accommodation to day shift only because her vision wasn't great for driving at night. Another had a back injury from an MVA about 15 years ago, yet she is always trying to do patient transfers. Mental health issues from bullying, got one of those as well.
Some units become, for lack of a better word, dumping grounds for these staff members. It destroys unit morale. I've worked a shift where out of ten on the floor only two of us where fully able to boost a patient in bed.
The problem is the unwillingness of management to create a safe no lift environment and this is possible with all the equipment out there today such as ceiling lifts and hover mats. It's nice that they are willing to accommodate staff, but why let people be injured in the first place. While you would like injured coworkers to just get the hell out of there, remember someday you could find yourself in the same situation and may not have an employer willing to keep you.
Then you have to try to get disability which is a long process to get approved, many don't on the first try and need a lawyer to succeed. What do you do for money in the meantime? Even if you get disability it is very little to live on, I sure wouldn't want to find myself in that situation!
It is not always easy to find a no lift, no long standing job. In fact, Walmart was exposed years back for complaining about the loyal coworkers they had because they didn't want those people they were older with health problems and wanted younger workers so they changed the benefits to make younger ones happy and made working condition worse by refusing to let employees sit at all, just to force the older workers out!
Where I work more nurses just keep on working in chronic pain, I don't see any accommodations being made other than light duty for a work injury so that you're not sitting at home getting paid! I saw a young nurse get fired when her workers comp time ran out, nobody tried to offer her another job!
anh06005, MSN, APRN, NP
1 Article; 769 Posts
The article makes sense but it also aggravates me. I made good grades in school, got scholarships for my BSN, have lived within my means, paid for my MSN to get where I am now. I have a 1000 square foot house on 1/3 of an acre. I still have cheap furniture and buy from thrift stores. I don't smoke, don't drink, don't do drugs, haven't made irresponsible decisions leading to kids or arrests.
It's a matter of personal responsibility to me. I don't want kids to suffer but at the same time I think it's much more responsible to take advantage of FREE birth control/condoms from a local health dept than to have several kids with different dads or different moms.
Again I'm partly venting but it is extremely aggravating. Diabetes is not a disability. A bad knee is not a disability. I had a BL AKA patient who had his family put a seat belt on his lawn mower so he could still take care of his yard. These other people can do something.