Nurses over 50 &/or with health issues affecting work

Furball · Feb 4, 2002

I'm 40, healthy, but making plans for 50. I love working in a hospital doing bedside but I do see a day where this job will be impossible without the benefit of youth. I know...it ain't right. but I'm looking out for number 1 returning to college for computer science. I can't picture myself in a nurse managements role as a possible alternative, yikes....

I know..I know I'm contributing to the shortage;)

Karen4HIM1951 · Feb 4, 2002

GOOD QUESTION NANCY:confused:

I wish I knew the answer. Unfortunately I had to leave Hospital nursing years ago (12 hr shifts and I didn't get along) but I love Home Health!!!

With my situation - due to my husbands job - we kept getting transferred so I was NEVER at a job long enough to become established in an organization (and you need that to affect changes!!).

Now that I'm in Home Health, I can see that there really isn't anything I can do (now that it's getting hard for me to keep up). The reason is MONEY! I have no idea how we can change things when we are competing with Profit/Keeping the agency/Hospital afloat!! So many HH agencies are shutting down and they have to do what they have to do to keep afloat!

If a - or a group of younger nurses are willing to tackle this problem - THAT'S GREAT! Due to the Medicare rules - It would take becomming politically involved - affecting leglislature!

I leave that to a MUCH BETTER PERSON than I to accomplish those things! G O O D L U C K ! ! !

I sincerely hope that there ARE people out there who can change the face of Nursing like that! It will most likely be too late for me - but it needs to be done for the future of this Profession!!!

northof49 · Feb 13, 2002

Hello from Canada! I've read with great interest of how the 50+ nurses are feeling and coping with their physical ages. I just turned 52, have been away from the profession since 1985 due to physical problems (carpal tunnel syndrome and a failed surgical procedure to correct it). I worked Orthopedics for 5 1/2 years, the last 1 1/2 as a casual that became fulltime without the union benefits.And you're right, the management will work you to the bone but when it comes to accomodating the injured nurse, you are dispensable. Once I left nursing, the carpal tunnel settled down and doing the occasional heavy lifting was not a problem. Now I'm returning not because I miss nursing but for financial reasons:rolleyes: My refresher course is by correspondance with clinical experience near the end. I have found with all the writing that my carpal tunnel has flared up again. I have requested day sugery or ambulatory care for the practicum and they are trying to be accomodating.

I know one thing I'm nervous about going back and not so much about all I learned initially but being able to do it all following the nursing model prescribed in the course. I feel that I may be slower than I used to be but will try to keep up. I have also explored another area that includes my nursing background and my love of cooking. I applied to work in the movie industry as a First Aid /Craft Service technician. It involved taking Occupational First Aid Level III which is the same course as Paramedics need and a food safety course. I am fortunate to live in the Pacific NW where the film industry is prolific. The OFA level III could also be used in other industries, is usually light work and certainly a different atmosphere than the hospital. So if my 50+ body cannot handle the physical trials of hospital work, I have another option. Many of you are concerned about your financial positions and rightly so as gov't pensions are meager and the employer doesn't always provide a pension plan. In Canada, we can set up registered retirement plans that can be paid by the individual themselves either every paycheque or before they do their income taxes or the employer can set up a deduction from your cheque to go into a fund. My husband & I learned a long time ago (through self-employment) that we would have to set aside funds ourselves in order to have something to live off of. I hope that any younger nurses reading this forum, will do some serious plotting and planning about their future, because injuries & illness can happen any time. I commend those who have managed to keep up with their duties and have been able to find lighter work in a profession they enjoy. Best of luck to all of you!:)

nightingale, RN · Feb 13, 2002

Thank you for your post Nortof49 (great name)...

Good luck with enjoying your new career! and Welcome!

B.

lever5 · Feb 13, 2002

Hi,

I am 49 and in my masters program, I hope to teach when I can no longer do. When I finish my masters, I will try to do part time teaching and work to get my foot in the door. Right now I'm doing travel nursing. Trying to see some of the country, I like the option of working for 13 weeks, then some time off, I do not have to get involved in the politics of individual hospitals, and if I don't like it, I don't have to go back.

live4today, RN · Feb 13, 2002

To Lever5:

Ahhh, yes!!! The joy of being a traveling nurse! So awesome an opportunity! I use to be one, and wouldn't mind doing it again one of these years. :)

NancyRN · Feb 13, 2002

I'd love to try traveling but don't you have to work full time? I'm not sure I could do that anymore

mario_ragucci · Feb 14, 2002

Yall make me feel young (@37) and are an inspiration, as well as a knowledge base/guide. I still can not see myself getting old. I protect my back as much, if not more, than my you know what. I always bend at the knees, and lift with my quads. I try to catch myself slumping while sitting for long periods of time. You hafta make a consious effort.

Youth is just a state of mind. I see folks of younger age who remind me of people who are much older, based on their additudes. Many younger folks are trying to secure their old age in their twenties, become fixated on accumulating money, and don't live very much. That is job security for me, because I'll be caring for them (if they need it) with physical problems associated with a sedentary lifestyle. (wink)

Your heart, brain and zest-for-life are your indicators, not the numbers.

Excuse my scatter-brain post here. You know how it is when you get old (wink) :-)

mattsmom81 · Feb 14, 2002

To Lever 5: Where are you doing your masters program and what type? MSN or??

To Renee: What part of Texas are you in? (I am in the Fort Worth area) Do you like it here?

My advice to the younger nurses of today: protect yourself. Don't let docs, patients or families bully you into hurting yourself. Be extremely cautious around combative patients or behavior problems especially. Step back a moment and think hard before you approach a questionable situation where you may be hurt. Try not to let a tense situation make you act rashly and do more than you should physically. Make patients do for themselves as much as they can (don't let them con you). (I love those electric beds now that tilt back so patients can scoot THEMSELVES up without us dragging them up constantly) Those weren't around when I was young. (We had crank up and down beds before push button beds.. anyone remember?) Wear and tear over 25 years plus a few combative patient incidents did my spine in--then a car wreck topped me off with a neck injury..just my luck..LOL! Most nurses my age (47) have lousy backs for similar reasons and we DO lift correctly (of course that's not what management says) Environmental and patient factors are the biggest causes of nurse injuries, IMHO. Wish there were more studies out there on this topic.

This is in 20:20 hindsite...I blithely thought God would protect me but that faith was not enough to prevent injury. Hospitals take advantage of our caring nature and ignore our need for lifting assist devices, adequate staffing, and reasonable limits. Docs fail to order appropriate sedation for violent patients. They scream "Get my 400 lb deadweight patient up every 2 hours". We are treated like workhorses in many cases, and then when we get hurt on the job, the hospital dodges responsibility and blames us.

Sorry so long and I know I probably sound bitter, but I've seen this scenario occur SO often!! I would hate to see our young nurses repeat the same pattern. We have not enouraged our daughters and sons to go into our chosen profession...the above is one of the reasons IMO. Best wishes to all and I do so enjoy this forum! God bless!

NurseDennie, BSN, RN · Feb 14, 2002

Mattsmom - I SO 100% agree with you! We're all taught all this crap about body mechanics in school and then we really BELIEVE that it will protect us from injury. At least I did. And you're right - nurses all have bad backs! Are we all too bloody stupid to do the body mechanics right? I don't think so! And if you see someone with that rolling side-side gait from bad hips and knees - likely as not, that's a nurse with "old nurse's gait." as my friends and I call it.

I tore some tendons in my arm pulling a patient up in bed. WITH help. WITH the bed at the proper level and attitude. My fault. I re-injured some torn muscles in my back when a lady who PROMISED, SWORE that she could stand collapsed onto me. I had help - I was using proper body mechanics! But one minute I was supporting myself and the next I was supporting myself another another adult.

Then employee health and the nursing managers try to make you feel guilty and stupid.

Love

Dennie

Franca · Feb 14, 2002

I'm not in school yet, so I'm green to the gills--but not young.

I'm reading on the BB's about 12-hour shifts that sometimes extend to 16 if the nurse is on the mandatory list and about no meals most of the shifts with a trip to the lavatory a rare event. I'm also presently reading through several drug reference books in order to critique them for a publisher. The information contained is extensive, and I wonder how a nurse has time to keep up with contraindications to drugs ordered and also how he/she watches for adverse events and has time for adequate assessments.

I've worked enough years to realize balance is one of the keys to happiness, besides realizing patient care surely must suffer when a nurse is stretched to breakdown physically.

I want to know, is it possible to only work an 8-hour shift bedside as a nurse ("bedside" in my question meaning emergency department too in addition to bedside on any of the floors, if ED isn't technically in the definition of "bedside.")?

I ask you, can you see police officers, with the level of stress they endure, working 12 and 16-hour shifts? Do EMTs work those shifts?

I do not plan to work that long a day; so, I'm asking, is it possible to hold firm to my desire and still be hired? ((I understand that school will stretch me physically during clinicals, b/c the doctor (Ph.D.) giving the introduction at nursing school on Monday said that some shifts for clinicals could run 7A to 7P. There isn't much I can do about that setup; but, thankfully that shift won't be two days straight.))

Perhaps it is possible to only work 8-hour shifts as fill in where needed (and keep others from having to do a mandatory extra four hours).

What do you think? Are there any options for a hospital nurse other than 12-hour or 16-hour days with no meals?

live4today, RN · Feb 14, 2002

mattsmom81: I sent you a "private message" to answer your question! :)

Nurses, watch those backs! I've been down that road, also with the right arm injury that has had me off work five years almost. And, I'm not collecting one red cent for the injury either! NOPE! I'm what the hospitals needed when I was healthy, but now I'm "broken down", so I'm no use to them anymore. Darn it!