Nurse unable to walk without pain. Where to work?

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Hi everyone,

I have a condition which doesn't allow me to walk without pain (plantar fasciitis). I have had this for years now, and I need advice. Where can I work when I have this problem? I would like to work at a hospital since I would like better health insurance and a retirement plan. I don't know what to do. I get paid very little at my current job now (QA Nurse), and I would like to be able to make more so that I can be dependent on myself. Thanks a lot for listening and for the advice.

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A hospital , I would think, might be difficult because most units require nurses to respond to call lights...which would be hard if movement was limited!

As soon as I read your post I thought about the possibility of telephone triage nursing....Just a thought!!

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how about working for a podiatrist?:)

leslie

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Specializes in Peds, PACU, ICU, ER, OB, MED-Surg,.

Plantar is relatively common in nursing. Get it fixed and you can work any where. It takes time and patience but you can help it. A hospital would not work for you if you cannot walk. I've worked bedside for 14 years I walk mile(s) everyday.

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Specializes in Med-Surg, School Nurse.

Pre-operative testing/screening nurse. I'm not sure the official name of one. I've encountered them twice, they came to the waiting room to get me, we went to a little room, they went over my labs and such, asked me numerous questions, did some pre-op teaching, and gave me two Hibiclens sponges to scrub my site. One did an EKG on me.

I would seek the help of a podiatrist though, as it is most likely they can greatly help your PF.

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I agree with seeing a podiatrist. I too, have PF so bad it is painful to walk at times. I work in a busy CVICU, and I'm now getting by with shoe inserts from my podiatrist!!

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PF is very common - half the people I know have had it at one point or another. It is treatable. The treatment requires commitment, if you do it now and then the Pf just keeps coming back. I had it for about two years before I finally got serious about treatment and it was gone in months. You need a gait analysis and custom orthodics to support your arch and fix your gait. The first while walking in them is brutal but that passes. You should be stretching it and icing it before you get up in the morning for a good five minutes and ice it and stretch it at least 2 more times a day - a frozen water bottle or tennis ball worked well for me. They also have foot braces that you can wear at night that holds you foot in the flexed position - maybe be worth a chat about that. Go to a sports injury doctor if you can - they are good at treating those injuries. You really don't need to live with it. Good luck.

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Cross your leg putting your foot lengthwise down your leg so that your foot is pointing down your thigh towards your knee. This will give your plantar fasci a gentle stretch. Get off your feet as much as possible in conjunction with this and other gentle stretches. Wear good arch support at all times. Get rid of any shoes that do not have arch supports.

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Specializes in CCU, OR.

As a massage therapist, my advice to you is to get hold of a couple of tennis balls. Put two into a a sock. Then starting for a short period of time, every day, roll your foot over the tennis ball. You should feel a "snap, crackle, pop" feel as the faciitis is broken up. Try to increase the time and frequency of the exercise.

It will hurt, so be prepared to take some aleve, and drink plenty of water.

Another way to get your faciitis taken care of is to see a massage therapist and have he/she work on your feet to break up the stuck fascia. Once that's taken care of, use the tenis balls to keep the fascia moving well.

Good luck.

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Hello LearningRN,

You can look into being a case manager of some sort. I work in home health. Our case managers work in an office. They drive to patients' homes, meet up with the RNs or LVNs assigned to that case, perform assessments and ask about how the patient has been doing since the last month or so. As far as I can see, their visits are the most physical aspect of the job, and they get assistance from the family or the nurse assigned to that patient if the patient ever needs to be turned or transferred during the assessment.

I have bouts of plantar fasciitis as well. It is, as everyone said, an extremely common condition in our line of work. I am managing well with the exercises outlined by momology and heogog53. I am also using shoes that are much stiffer and provide more support. Nowadays, my feet actually feel better after a long day at work as opposed to lounging around in the house on my off days. Such is the strange nature of PF. Perhaps getting off your feet is actually making things worse. In any case, good luck!

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Ortho, ASC.

I would guess that more nurses have plantar fascitis than don't. I'm with all of the other posts - please find treatment. If you have tried treating it and the treatment wasn't successful, try again with a new provider. For me, it was stretches, icing, more stretches (for the rest of my life) and Birkenstocks.

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You might like to try a golf ball instead of a tennis ball to massage your foot too.

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