This is long! I tried to be as concise as possible but there's a lot that's happened.
I hurt my back 5 weeks ago while working with a patient. I immediately reported it for workers comp purposes. I worked out the rest of my week and then when it didn't feel better after a few days off, I sought treatment via the workers comp panel. I was diagnosed with a lumbar ligament strain and given 10 days of work restrictions stating I couldn't walk any more than 15 minutes every hour. This meant I couldn't work at the bedside. My manager said she couldn't accommodate me, the risk manager said nobody else in the hospital could either, so I sat at home for the 10 days.
Returned to the doctor, basically felt the same. So I got another 14 days with those same restrictions. With WC, unless you miss 21 days, the first 7 days are not paid through WC. You have to use your PTO for it. It looked like I was going to be out more than 21 days, but then my employer called me a couple days after I notified them about the 14 day add-on and said they found accommodation. I was to report to ER to do phone surveys.
The ER manager assured me this was nearly a full-time job and that she had told the risk manager it was always here because the surveys piled up so easily. My first thought (which I kept to myself) was, "Oh, so this has been here all along and they just didn't care until it was their dime I was sitting at home on, not my own." I reported in a few days later, got training, and started. It was not a full time job. It took me 3-4 hours a day. The manager said she didn't care when I did it or how I set my hours, but when I skipped a day, she emailed me to ask if I was coming in or if she should have someone else do it. That was weird to me, because she knew it didn't take me long, and why not have a day off after I'd worked 3 days prior, and then just work 6-7 hours the next day? I explained my plan and asked for advice on advantageously grouping the days. She ignored that. I figured she wanted me to come in every day, so I came in every day. After doing it for about a week and a half, it was time for my follow-up appointment at the doctor (this was on Monday of this week).
Now before all of this, I was supposed to be transferring from my med surg floor to a critical care floor. My medsurg manager had told me near the beginning she'd speak with my critical care manager and let her know what was going on. I'd heard nothing back, so I assumed we were still on track. My transfer date was only a week away, so when I went to the doctor, I told them I felt a little better (I did) and begged them to lift the walking restrictions so I could go to my new floor. I assured them there would be plenty of new orientee education I'd have to do so I could take it a little easy at first. The doc relented but warned me to rest plenty and stop if it was straining me.
I happily gave the new manager a call and let her know I could walk 45 of every 60 minutes now. She had never heard a word about my back injury. She said I'd have to talk to the risk manager about it. I said I had been in contact with her for weeks and she'd already directed me to my nurse managers. She said she'd call me back. She didn't, not on Monday or Tuesday (and she said she would by Tuesday). Wednesday I got an e-mail from another person in that department saying I needed to call the risk manager.
Side insert: I had called my med surg manager Monday to let her know about the new lighter restrictions, and she'd tried to put me back on the floor. I said that wasn't possible since I couldn't sit 15 minutes of any of the hours between 7p-12a (the shift is just too busy) and couldn't ask another nurse to do all of my heavy work for me, and compromised saying I'd come in to help during the busy hours but not take patients. She agreed to this.
So I called the risk manager Wednesday after getting the email from the critical care department, and she informed me that my new department couldn't use me and my current one wouldn't be keeping me either. After this week, I'd be department-less. She also said that since I was working on my med-surg floor, I didn't need to do the ER surveys. I tried to explain that I'd like to do both because it gave me nearly full-time hours if I did, but she said ER didn't need me. (What? How did they go from a huge backup to not needing me in 9 days? And why didn't the ER manager tell me?)
What's worse is that after two nights of doing the resourcing, I noticed my back hurting worse. I've had to back out of that. So now I'm doing nothing again. I've got 4 different managers who can't tell me a damn thing. I've got a back that feels about as bad as it did in the beginning after doing just 5 hours on two different nights of walking around more often. I have no idea if it's going to get better. The risk manager is supposed to call me tomorrow and tell me what I'm doing next week, but she's said she was going to do that before and ended up telling me to stay home. I'm very scared that she's going to tell me I'm fired.
The weirdest part is every other person I've known who got on-the-job back injuries (they're not exactly uncommon on an understaffed med surg floor) got put in an office doing chart audits. I don't know why this wasn't offered to me. But at this point, I've been jerked around so much that I have to doubt my employer will even offer to train me for another position like case management or clinical informatics.
I've looked around for other jobs, but I just graduated last June, so I only have a year and some change under my belt. It's not enough for any of the away-from-the-bedside jobs I've seen posted in other places. It's not even enough to transfer to the non-bedside positions in my own hospital.
Is there anything I can do? Even if they do fire me, I don't think they're stepping outside their legal bounds, so it's not like I have any kind of legal recourse. I feel like I literally busted my hump working 3 years for this place (I worked through nursing school on the floor I was leaving) and I've been tossed by the wayside as just another busted nurse nobody has any place for. It hurts to know I got hurt taking care of other people and now my employer won't even take care of me.
Make an appointment with ICU nurse manager. Be up front. State your case for them to keep your job open for you. I agree that you will not be able to start work there unless you have no work restrictions. See an attorney who is experienced in workmen's comp. The consultation should be free. You are going to be watched very closely after this. They are not able to fire you directly because of the back injury that happened on the job but they can deny you another position. I believe you stated that your NM from your last floor doesn't want you back there and I'm assuming you gave notice to him/her to be able to move on to ICU. Sorry I don't want to read all the way back. Your ICU nurse manager can let you go at any time in the orientation period in most states (usually 90 days) I've known more than a few people who have lost jobs due to back injuries. It is the absolute worst possible time for this to happen to you with a change of jobs about to take place. That's why you need an attorney to let you know your rights in this situation.
See an attorney. You can't go to your new department with any work restrictions Period. Sounds like you need some qualified legal advice. Embellishment also means "adding to" by the way.
Yeah I saw that. Manipulation also means "handle or control, typically in a skillful manner". Both have bad connotations though, which is why I'm going with poor phrasing. Another communication problem!
I'm definitely going to see an attorney. I didn't think I could afford to, and I might not be able to, but something tells me in the long run I can't afford not to. Thank you for your advice :).
amnesty Have you asked the ACLS instructor if they allow students to take the course while they are on restricted duties? The instructor and hospital may not want students with existing injuries to perform ACLS skills because it may risk aggravating their injuries and be a liability risk. Employer's often consider nurses with a back injuries 'hot potato employees' and do not always treat them fairly. Your employer may be reluctant to provide orientation for a position that may result in re-injury, as the money spent on orientation will be wasted.
Yeah, I don't think I'm going to push it by asking to do ACLS while still injured. I've definitely gained some perspective on how that could seem self-motivated in a bad way. I'll wait and go with the flow. No more wave-making for me.
Dont give up. Just start looking for something less taxing on your back....it's out there. I wish you much luck and success and less pain. Sorry for babbling.
I'm so sorry about your injury . I hope mine doesn't end up debilitating me. I've clung to the optimism that if it doesn't affect the actual spinal column, just the ligaments, it's probably not nearly as bad as it could have been, and I can hopefully expect a full recovery. I've read a lot of stories of other nurses who have not made full recoveries and still deal with back pain to this day. I've worked with a lot of patients who have similar stories. I know how low the success rate of back surgeries is. I'm desperately hoping I haven't started myself down that path so early in life.
I'm keeping my eyes peeled for new opportunities, and learning a lot from this thread on how to lie low while I do so.
This is the major difference. Some of the people in the thread assumed I was doing this. One even blatantly stated I was faking the injury/the severity of the injury because I worked through a weekend after sustaining the injury. When I clarify my points, I'm accused of embellishing. When I show that I was trying to advocate for myself in a bad situation, I'm a manipulator trying to take advantage of my hospital. There is great advice to be gleaned, and I'm definitely taking it. I've looked up a lawyer and will be making an appointment this week. I have plans to talk with my managers. I'm starting now with documenting everything, printing out all the emails, etc.
It's valuable to see yourself through the eyes of others, but only if those others are open to changing information and perspectives. Having to pick through a minefield of people who probably aren't going to believe me even when I do respond doesn't seem like a particularly useful exercise for either party involved.
Amnesty I do think you're choosing bits and pieces from other's posts and getting a little defensive. It may be that right now you are scared to death so that when anyone uses a word which triggers those fears, it immediately makes you want to decry it. Embellishing doesn't necessarily mean that you are lying. Could be you're adding more information so that we can see the situation more clearly. That's the way I see it anyway. This is not going to magically go away and you just go on into ICU without a care in the world. For better or for worse, you will be scrutinized more closely, whether that is fair or not. Your back injury may take more time than you want it to for complete healing. Don't take the risk of going to ICU hoping it will heal during your orientation period. Please take the great advice you have been given and be your own best friend moving forward. SEE AN ATTORNEY
I can sympathize with this, and it's quite possible that the reality is that it wasn't worth it to let me do chart audits like everyone else gets to do because my NM knew I was leaving to go to another floor soon, so there was no need to accommodate me.
But let's be real about how crappy that is. I hurt my back after years of strain on it working on an understaffed, heavy floor. Instead of the hospital taking care of an employee who's worked there 3 years without a bit of trouble and always gotten good reviews, I'm just kind of side-lined because I happened to have it occur in a time period where nobody Has to help me and I'm not useful enough for anybody to really want to. Our administration is not known for treating nurses well, but this is a new low. I've not seen this happen to anyone else.
It's a very bad way to treat people, but it happens every day. Not just in Nursing.
Call those lawyers on Monday, without fail. And whatever else you do or don't do, DO NOT DISCUSS THIS WITH ANYONE - SUCH AS SO-CALLED FRIENDS. DO NOT COMPLAIN, DO NOT BE CRIRTICAL OF ANYONE, EVEN IF THEY ARE DESERVING OF CRITICISM, AND DO NOT TRY TO COMMISERATE WITH ANYONE. YOU WILL DEFINITELY BE MISQUOTED AND THINGS WILL QUICKLY GO DOWNHILL.
Employers do not care about workers. That's just the sad, simple, hard fact of life. Learn it now.
Definitely communicate clearly at all times. For whatever reason, it's just so blasted easy to be misunderstood.
Specializes in Mental Health, Gerontology, Palliative.
I did happily work it once I assumed it was what she wanted. I don't want to say "knew" because really, I still have no idea. She didn't choose to respond to me. All I'm pointing out is that I don't get why she or anybody else is upset that I tried to group the days better. If she had clearly said, "I want this work done on this schedule," I'd have followed it to a T. Give me a little credit; when I did try to communicate, I got nothing in return.
If I dont have the ok from my manager to do something then I dont do it. Might seem picky however they tend to get a bit pissed off if I run off half cocked without keeping them in the loop. Its usually never an issue but they still want to know what is happening. IMO your error was just going ahead and changing things before getting the ok from the manager.
Your orginal assertion was that none of us would be prepared to work those hours. Your orginal assertion was incorrect
I have been very proactive in communications with my med-surg manager and the risk manager. The ER manager acted like she really didn't care to hear about it as long as I got the work done, so I treated it that way until she indicated otherwise, and then communicated very clearly in writing about everything from there on out. Not talking to the CC manager sooner was a mistake, but I do have it in writing from the medsurg NM that she would be talking to the CC NM about it.
The ER manager maybe didnt care, does that mean you shouldnt? And regardless of whether a person doesnt care about when the work is done, doesn't mean you still shouldnt have flicked off an email to her and said look "I have got the work for these days done two days prior and as such wont be in to work on Monday.
My word used was productive. Just because you communicated well with a couple of people the error was assuming everyone else would let everyone else know what was going on. Its all very well assuming one manager would talk to the other, IMO it is really discourteous to not be communicating with all the people involved instead of relying on others to do it for you.
Who cares if your manager said they would communicate with the other
I know I'm not the world everybody else revolves around, but if somebody says they're going to do something, they should do it. I shouldn't have to be chasing all three of these nurse managers around to get them to follow through with what they'd said they would do, but that's what's happened. The medsurg NM said she'd talk to the CC NM; didn't happen. The CC NM said she'd call me back within 2 days; didn't happen. The ER NM said I could pick my own schedule and she was only an email away if I needed anything; didn't happen.
I could have been better with communication. That's fair enough. I own up to that mistake. But these nurse managers all could have been better as well. This is not entirely on me.
The problem is, they are the managers the one with the ability to make or break your career. To quote a cliche "if everyone was drinking poison would you do the same?"
Just because someone has crappy communication or doesnt do what they say they will do is absolutely no reason to come at a situation like this with such a half spiritied approach
Tenebrae, my original assertion was that most people would not want to work 3 hours a day every day. I didn't say that no one would do it. I said no one would choose it if better scheduling was available.
I've just about explained myself to death in this thread. You're either satisfied with what I've said or you're not. It's pretty clearly the latter. I thank you for the advice regardless. Every single little thing will be communicated crystal clear in writing going forward, and it will be documented as such. I will see a lawyer this week.
As such, I'm going to lay this thread to rest. Thank you all for the advice, criticism, encouragement, and well-wishes. I appreciate it :).
I did not assume that you were being intentionally deceitful. I was coming from a neutral POV with a manager's perspective. One I thought you should be aware of, albeit after the fact.
Reading your subsequent responses and explanations, it's clear that you have a very limited perspective on the whole picture of injured employee issues. What your managers would have liked to have seen, whetheror not the staff en mass believes it unjustified, is someone who is pro company/pro returning to work asap and eager to show gratitude for modified work with a strong work ethic. It would have put you in a different light, perhaps as a more sympathetic character, had you shown up for whatever scraps of a shift they had for you. And when you completed the calls in 3 hrs, requested additional work that you could help with. They might not have had any for you, but it's the intention that would have been noticed.
Middle managers are hammered for injured employees. They don't possess the power to change the work expectations but they have to answer to the budget. When they see you aren't on their side then you can be perceived as working against them. It is usually encouraged on this site to look out for yourself and management is often viewed as the adversary (though it didn't actually go that way 100% in this thread). Middle managers are just as human as the patient care staff, they have performance expectations thrust on them just as well and are also inclined to protect themselves. Clinical staff and lower/middle managers are all vulnerable to TPTB. Both chose to take challenging positions and both are constantly challenged.
I understand your thought process on trying to (insert the best non offensive adverb here) the classes and orientation during recovery. Unfortunately being a licensed professional and 3 year employee, I suppose you would been expected to know how that would appear, when in fact you did not. I believe that you were enthusiastically naive versus opportunistic. From your managers' standpoint though, they might have seen that as an attempt to be played.
Where to go from here? Demonstrate that you want to be part of the team, the whole team. That can go against every self preserving instinct but remember that you are trying to promote yourself as being a desirable employee despite an injury that is a headache for your manager.
Tenebrae, my original assertion was that most people would not want to work 3 hours a day every day. I didn't say that no one would do it. I said no one would choose it if better scheduling was available.
I've just about explained myself to death in this thread. You're either satisfied with what I've said or you're not. It's pretty clearly the latter. I thank you for the advice regardless. Every single little thing will be communicated crystal clear in writing going forward, and it will be documented as such. I will see a lawyer this week.
As such, I'm going to lay this thread to rest. Thank you all for the advice, criticism, encouragement, and well-wishes. I appreciate it :).
I think you missed the point. You emailed, you did not speak directly with the involved party (on at least one occasion).
It's hard enough to communicate clearly in person. Trying to use only email is, I think, what messed you up in this matter.
You did, quite clearly if I remember correctly, say that you'd bet that no one would want to work a short shift.
Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
Oh I know this. I didn't think they'd do a class specially for me. They already have pre-scheduled PALS and ACLS course sign-ups. One is coming up next week, and now I'm not sure if I'll be allowed to do that or not. I'm pretty sure I'll still have a job on the critical care floor once this is all said and done. I just have to power through it and navigate the waters along the way. With no spinal bone involvement suspected, I can't see this being something that sidelines me forever, just maybe for a while longer than I originally thought :x.
If your back is such an issue that you cannot do patient care, then ACLS will surely aggravate it. You'll probably have to do CPR. And most of the stations are standing. I've had a back injury, I've taught ACLS.
Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
I've already explained most of this in numerous prior posts but I'll bite and explain it again with more depth.
I don't think ICU is less work intensive. I know though, that it requires several weeks of training before I'm really thrown into the mix. For instance, I have to do ACLS before I can even participate in a code. There's additional medication classes I have to go to and tests I have to pass before I can give meds, and those would likely take up the first week by themselves. Toss ACLS in there on week two, PALS week four, and you get a picture where I'm off my feet a lot of the time. Not to mention that when I'm not off my feet, I have a preceptor there so I'm not being pushed to lift alone or do things my back can't handle like if I had 6 patients and any number of them were total cares and the rest were post-ops or significant injuries. I was doing with it, and I thanked her for the opportunity all along.
There is a lot of assuming the worst going on here. I didn't think it was hard to understand how somebody could get confused when having to communicate about a difficult issue with four different managers, none of whom were great with communication themselves, but apparently everybody here is perfect and I'm allegedly just trying to cheat the system and screw my employer over while getting free money, despite the fact that I've explained several times how that doesn't add up. It's tiring.
ICU patients need a lot of very physical care, and you would be leaving your preceptor to do it while you watched. You wouldn't really be learning the job because you wouldn't really be doing the job. No wonder the ICU manager didn't want you and your issues. You haven't considered any viewpoint except your own.
. I hope mine doesn't end up debilitating me. I've clung to the optimism that if it doesn't affect the actual spinal column, just the ligaments, it's probably not nearly as bad as it could have been, and I can hopefully expect a full recovery. I've read a lot of stories of other nurses who have not made full recoveries and still deal with back pain to this day. I've worked with a lot of patients who have similar stories. I know how low the success rate of back surgeries is. I'm desperately hoping I haven't started myself down that path so early in life. 
Ellie G
186 Posts
Make an appointment with ICU nurse manager. Be up front. State your case for them to keep your job open for you. I agree that you will not be able to start work there unless you have no work restrictions. See an attorney who is experienced in workmen's comp. The consultation should be free. You are going to be watched very closely after this. They are not able to fire you directly because of the back injury that happened on the job but they can deny you another position. I believe you stated that your NM from your last floor doesn't want you back there and I'm assuming you gave notice to him/her to be able to move on to ICU. Sorry I don't want to read all the way back. Your ICU nurse manager can let you go at any time in the orientation period in most states (usually 90 days) I've known more than a few people who have lost jobs due to back injuries. It is the absolute worst possible time for this to happen to you with a change of jobs about to take place. That's why you need an attorney to let you know your rights in this situation.