Disabled RN looking for job

llg, PhD, RN · Aug 16, 2006

What type of nursing experience do you have? What credentials (education) do you have? Some jobs require certain experience and/or credentials -- and it might be worth it to start your career planning process by assessing yourself and your qualifications and your interests.

After doing that assessment, you might find that it points in one direction or another -- or that you need to take a few classes or get a certification, etc. to be qualified for some of the jobs that might interest you.

For example, you might be able to review charts for a lawyer who specializes in malpractice cases (either for the plaintif or for the defense). I have a friend who does that, but he has special training for that job.

You might be able to find a niche for yourself in a local school of nursing -- either teaching online or teaching beginner level students in the learning lab. You also might be able to be a research or teaching assistant. The income might not be great to start, but it would be interesting work in a generally pleasant environment without a lot physical demands.

I'm sure you'll get other suggestions, but I thought I would throw those in because a lot of people don't think of those sorts of things.

It all depends on what your qualifications are and what qualifications you are willing/able to acquire.

llg

Nascar nurse, ASN, RN · Aug 16, 2006

Are you familiar with long term care? I am an MDS coordinator, which is mostly a sitdown/computer job. My MDS partner has physical limitations (no sternum, floating ribs, etc and is unable to do any physical care). May want to check into this. PM me if you have questions.

bleppity · Aug 16, 2006

Contact your local department of vocational rehabilitation. That's part of their job... finding jobs for people with disabilities. :) Good luck!

MizDnurse2b · Aug 16, 2006

I used to be employed by a large health insurance company and they had RN's ( BSN, or actively seeking BSN ) who worked in the Medical Review area reviewing records and making determinations based on benefits for coverage. It is a desk (cubicle) job. You might look into that. Good Luck :nurse:

HM2VikingRN, RN · Aug 16, 2006

https://www.ark.org/arstatejobs/index.php?ac:show:show_job=1&agencyid=104&jobid=20

UTILIZATION REVIEW NURSEAgency:Arkansas Department of Health and Human ServicesDate Posted:10/17/2003Posting Expires:NoneEducation or Experience RequirementsMinimum QualificationsLicensed by the Arkansas State Board of Nursing as a Registered Nurse as established by Acts 432 of 1971, 613 of 1979, and 19 of 1981; plus two years' experience in nursing services, including one year in case management activities.

I checked your state jobs website. I don't know your physical limitations but this position may be a match for you. I hope this helps you...

CHATSDALE · Aug 16, 2006

i know of some rns who work with chart audits and with checking out to see mds and facilities are doing honest medicare charges

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Aug 17, 2006

You could possibly become a theory nursing instructor for an LPN/LVN program or medical assistant program. One of my former instructors, a diploma RN, was wheelchair-bound with post-polio and could not walk without pain. Most of my nursing instructors had either ADNs, BSNs, or diploma educations. Most states require three years of clinical experience in order to qualify as an instructor for an LPN/LVN program.

Selke · Aug 17, 2006

Take a look at http://www.exceptionalnurse.com/

a website for the disabled wanting to become nurses, and for disabled nurses. It might be a useful resource in addition to the excellent suggestions already given. Good luck!!!!!

goats'r'us, ASN, RN · Aug 17, 2006

you could do infection control. the infection control nurse where i used to work was in a wheelchair and had no problems doing the job.

Daytonite, BSN, RN · Aug 17, 2006

i am in your shoes because of back problems and other multiple medical problems. i went into medical coding and thought it was a blast. i liked working with numbers and my nursing background was a real help. i learned coding from a local vocational school. it doesn't pay as well as nursing unless you get a national certification in it which is just to take a national exam (it's not like taking the nclex). now, i've decided to go back and get an aa in health information management which is the broad umbrella under which medical coding belongs. i'm finding, again, that my nursing background is so very helpful and with my background as a hospital nurse i am practically sailing through the classes. the outlook is good: desk jobs in hospitals and other facilities doing a variety of healthcare related paperwork. the pay, when i take the hrit exam and get that certification (again, this is not like licensing, it is voluntary certification), will get me up close to rn pay and possibly over it.

prior to going this route i worked as a telephonic nurse for a large insurance company. these jobs are a little hard to come by since the turn over is low, but they are strictly sit down and work at a computer and talk on the phone jobs.

i spend a lot of my free time on the student forums here on allnurses helping the student nurses (except when it is slow, like now and i venture out to the regular nursing forums). i particularly enjoy helping them with nursing care plans (so many just do not understand how nursing diagnosis works), medication calculations and procedures. i've amassed quite a bank of files with nothing but internet links to webpages of information that is helpful for them. i get a great deal of satisfaction from that and feeling that i am, at least, doing something constructive with my time, as well as giving back my knowledge and encouragement to the newbies. without this, i would probably go nuts. i also read in my spare time. thankfully, i'm off wellbutrin because i used to just cry all day long at my predicament.

LisaRNinarkansas · Aug 19, 2006

Thank you all for your suggestions. I have alot to think about and some good starter points..

I am an ASN RN, which limits what I can do, bc some areas require BSN. I dont have the resources or mind-set to go back to college. But perhaps a tech school...medical coding sounds interesting. I think there are other things as well. I will be checking those out.

I spent my career in LTC...from Charge Nurse to DON...and everything in between. I loved my MDS job, but those are hard to come by. I wouldnt have given mine up, but I got pregnant and had a difficult pregnancy and delivery. They couldnt hold my job for as long as I needed it. Im always on the lookout for those particular jobs though.

thanks again....

more suggestions are always welcome :)