That is the question still uppermost in my mind today as I chew over the 'conversation' I had Friday with one of the assistant department managers regarding "concerns" that have evidently arisen over my reluctance to perform certain back-breaking aspects of the job, namely, moving our 300+ pound beds (that's unoccupied) up and down carpeted halls.
I've actually been refusing to do this for over a year, only because it strains my back so badly that I've spent nights in excruciating pain after having done so. I'll help with lifts, turns, transfers, etc.---even with bariatric patients---but I have told people repeatedly that I can't push beds, and I've told them WHY I can't do it. I've had back problems ever since I was 14 and thin enough for the breeze to blow away.......this is nothing new.......and now that I'm older and heavier, it's certainly gotten worse, and yes, I baby it more than I did when I was younger. I've had chronic pain for almost as long as I can remember, but I literally can't afford to screw my back up for good---my dh doesn't make much money, and if I go down, my family is back in the food-stamp line.
I can understand where the management is coming from; they need nurses who can do ALL the tasks demanded of them, and I never have been really forthcoming about my back problems until now because I wanted to WORK. It's also been a point of pride that I've managed to 'gut it out' despite the physical pain, and keep up with nurses who are decades younger and many pounds lighter. But I guess I've been living in Fantasyland......I CAN'T do it all. I strained my back again last summer trying to keep a very large patient from falling out of bed, and I never reported it to anyone because I thought I'd be OK, and since I already had the pre-existing back problems, I didn't want anybody to think I was malingering, or trying to 'take' the hospital for money for a disability claim.
Now, of course, I know that was a mistake, because it did cause some damage, but it's way over and done now and I can't fix it. I still think I'm a good nurse, and I still think I can be effective; but now I wonder....is there no place in Med/Surg for someone like me, who isn't physically able to do the hard physical labor but is great with patients? We have a nurse who can't manage anything near a full patient load, and goes into orbit if you hand her an admission; we have several nurses who are pregnant and can't do the lifts or move beds; we have nurses who are older, heavier, and more crippled-up than I am........yet my hospital continues to employ them, and I haven't heard any veiled threats leveled against them. (Of course, I don't know everything that led them to the places where they are, and I don't think I'm going to be fired just yet.)
Is there any hope for me? Inquiring minds want to know!!
This is off topic... but why do we still have these huge beds that nurses or whomever has to push? Why can't it be remote control or something?
Maybe I'll pop over to the Nursing Enterprener (sp) forum and suggest this...
-Dan
Oh how kewl,, you need to keep this one and make your million for yourself. Find yourself a good patent lawyer, then take it to Hill-Rom.. Dang your good. :Melody:
meownsmile, BSN, RN
2,532 Posts
Oh how kewl,, you need to keep this one and make your million for yourself. Find yourself a good patent lawyer, then take it to Hill-Rom.. Dang your good. :Melody: