Disabled Vet/ Nurse: Denied for Vocational Rehabilitation

[LotusFlower777]

Hello Everyone! I must say that I became a nurse to escape and abusive husband and be financially stable with my kids after I divorced him. I left him before I graduated and lived in a homeless shelter; where I also graduated. Long story short, as soon as I started the clinical practice, I knew that this was not my dream profession; I wanted to become an attorney. As the years passed, I began to have panic attacks, became overwhelmed, suffered with anxiety, nightmares,and had horrible depression. I had to work; I had to feed my children; I just "dealt" with it...until I had a nervous breakdown...and became homeless. " Why don't you go into another part of nursing? Why did you ...nursing is so...." is what I constantly heard from my Voc Rehab Counselor; I was denied. I currently have a lower back injury (workers comp) and stopped working 2 years ago. I am medicated and my mental health has improved,tremendously, which made me apply for Voc Rehab. Has anyone qualified for Voc Rehab and had a negative result because they were a nurse? Thanks for reading.

[gere7404, BSN, RN]

Since you brought up that you're a veteran, I'm assuming by vocational rehabilitation that you are referring to Chapter 31 vocational rehabilitation and employment.

The first thing voc rehab will try to do is get you employed with your current skill set as long as it is congruent with your service connected disabilities ie disabilities the VA recognize as being directly related to your military service. So, the counselor's recommendation of finding a different type of nursing job is expected.

You need to provide evidence that you cannot find employment in another field or an opinion from a provider that your current disabilities make nursing an unsuitable vocation for you and that vocational rehabilitative services to find new employment is suitable.

[LotusFlower777]

Thank you, so much. I have been through so much; I cried at the meeting with the VR counselor. So, a letter from my psychiatrist sounds like the best plan.