Jobs for new grad with new bad back??

[dragon.chow]

Hi,

First I'll just say hi, I'm out of school for a couple months and getting ready to take my NCLEX later this month.

I started working in home health as a respite worker and messed up my back the first week. Actually they say what happened was I "discovered" I have a bad back. According to the doctor I was sent to, I have arthritis in my upper lumbar/lower thorasic V. According to the urgent care doctor I originally saw, I have degenerative disk disease. Either way .......WT*...????

I'm 37

Before this I've had a little low back muscle strain here and there but nothing a litlle exercise and dieting couldn't fix.

I barely got back to school after taking 12 years to stay at home with an autistic son. He was doing better and seems stable so I figured Hey! why not try having a life?

The middle of my back now goes numb (except for the sharp, stabby electrical shocks, pins and needles) whenever I slouch, bend or stoop for even a minute.

What am I going to do as a nurse??? What jobs won't put me in a surgical suite getting my spine fused in a few years. I just saw my ex go through that last year and NO THANKS! I'd like to give the science at least ten more years.

Every nurse I know has told me to get used to muscle relaxants and Vicoden (got that in me now, does it show??? ppppllllbbbttttt...) I can't hardley type a straight line how am I going to "think critically" pass meds and change dressings when I can't remember basic spelling and grammer??

Seriously I need suggestions...

whimper...

Cammy

[gt4everpn, BSN, RN]

work in a doctor's office, or clinic maybe? just a thought. wishing you luck, so sorry about your back, i promise you with a little perseverance, alot of god's help, and taking things slow, things will surely start to look up.

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

Perhaps you may want to find a job at a medical insurance firm or other workplace that involves plenty of sitting. Also, you could work in medical records, or run the front office of a clinic.

Unfortunately, bedside nursing involves a whole lot of standing, and can be extremely physical when you're walking back and forth, repositioning patients, taking immobile patients to the restroom, etc.

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

I forgot to mention something that would seem pertinent to your specific situation. I began to suffer from an extreme case of sciatica that rendered me unable to walk for more than a few feet before I would experience sharp calf pain. It was a neurogenic claudication, caused by a L4-L5 injury to my low back.

Like you stated, I had wanted to avoid surgery. I could not get the problem addressed sooner because the onset occurred while I was unemployed, uninsured, and in nursing school. However, I did address the problem once I started working as an LVN and acquired health insurance. My insurance has limited chiropractic benefits, so I opted to give chiropractic a chance.

I have no regrets for using chiropractic, because most of my symptoms have slowly disappeared. I am now able to walk without pain, and have not taken any pain meds for my back or legs in months. I noticed that my pains began to disappear about 3 weeks after the last visit with the chiropractor, so perhaps my spine needed time to adjust to the manipulations. Since you have back problems, chiropractic is something you may wish to consider (if you haven't already). Good luck, and I hope the pain goes away in the near future.

[Crueltiming]

Group homes...overnight shifts...only thing I lift is my lazy butt off the couch every 15 - 20 mins to check on my medicated, sleeping clients hehe