Nurses with disabilities

[bestblondRN]

I am curious as to how many of the members of this bb are nurses or nursing students with disabilities. By disabilities, I am including congenital problems, injury-related problems, or work-related injuries that have resulted in that person's inability to perform regular nursing tasks without accomodation or the inability to perform bedside nursing at all.

I am a 25 year veteran of healthcare, 20 of which have been as a RN. I sustained an initial back injury at age 18 while working my first job as a nurses' aide and now have severe thoracic and lumbo-sacral stenosis, disc herniation and degenerative disc disease/arthritis. I have been through PT and surgery is not currently an option due to the rehabilitation time and the fact that I carry all of our health benefits and cannot afford COBRA for that period of time at present. I have worked staff as well as management positions, but chose to return to staff nursing about 1-1/2 years ago in an effort to refresh my skills. Unfortunately, my back isn't able to handle it--even in an ICU setting where there is a smaller patient load. Now it's a question of finding a position that I am able to do and that I am not "overqualified" for. Believe it or not, even in this nursing shortage, it's tough to find a physically lighter position! I am fearful of revealing anything about my physical limitations to a potential employer, although a pre-employment physical exam as well as how poorly I am able to move some days would definitely show how advanced this problem is. I have contemplated applying for SSI disability, but I don't think I meet the criteria as it relates to my ability to learn a new job or to find something less physical in my current area of expertise. I have been forced to resign from 2 positions within the past year due to my back and am now having a really tough time finding something. It's humiliating as well as depressing.....

Have any of you ever faced these challenges? How did you handle them? What did you finally end up doing in order to obtain gainful employment?

Thanks for any input or advice any of you may have. :)

Suzanne

[curlyfries]

You are very welcome!

[rnmom3153]

guess not, huh? still struggling here. had a long talk with my boss yesterday. did not go well. oh well.

[Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN]

To Anyone,

Is there anyone out there that has MS and trying desperatly to hide it from the work place or has been the victum of discrimination? I have found recently that Having MS is being looked at as a liability....they the hospital wouldn't have to pay long term disability for a long peroid of time...Please help. lost in boston:crying2:

[sweetiepie, rn]

I have ADD and was diagnosed almost 4 yrs ago, while I was in nursing school. It affects me because no matter how hard I tried to get things done during clinicals and when writing care plans or papers, I never could get it done on time. I became very depressed and almost suicidal because I felt like such a failure. I felt like something was wrong but couldn't figure it out. I glanced at symptoms of ADD (by chance or God's intervention) and asked for advice on how to be tested. Even though I was considered "borderline ADD" at first via the initial questionnaire, the various tests showed that I have ADD without hyperactivity. The signs were there in grade school, but I found ways to compensate. I couldn't compensate in nursing school and needed accomadations. I fought hard anyway and graduated on time. I also passed the boards with one try (Thank God).

When I started as a GN, I struggled the entire year to keep up with my work. I was behing the curve of other GNs and had to have an extended orientation. Talk about humiliation. My boss was very understanding . So was my preceptor. I also found out that another nurse had ADD and she helped me cope with being a nurse and having ADD. I have been a RN for 1 1/2 years and I still struggle with my job, but with a shift change and decrease of hours, I am doing ok. I plan to be a community nurse and hopefully find something more suitable for me.

I know that ADD is not a physical disability, however it can affect how one copes with the rigors of this profession. Because it is not visible, people do not always understand why it takes longer to do charting or get organized and some even disregard the fact that you have a learning disability. Its not to be a crutch, but its there and one must learn to live with it. I hope that this reply is approprpriate for this forum.

[working hard]

I to have a disability work related injury in 2-14-2003 I had to have my c5 and c6 fused back together...I work for the VAMC so they are than willing to find something for you, but I got lucky when I went back a job was posted in the clinic area MH and I applied got it. Not knowing I would have a super boss who would understand pain issue's I got Lucky,,,I am working on my BSN as LPN in gov. system I am as far as I can go in pay and positions. I live in WV the pay is much lower for LPN'S after being at the VA 5 years I am at 17.50. ,,,my surgery helped me return to work but there is never a day that i don't have pain and floor work tugging and pulling I don't know if I ever could do again.....RRA

[Icare4u2]

Yes, yes, yes!!! I so relate to all of this!!! You have to DEMAND what is rightfully yours!! If you need a special phone, they MUST supply it for you!! (I also wear hearing aids) It IS demoralizing! But there are so many of us "disabled" nurses out there with such great stuff to offer!! There is a reason the Americans with Disabilities Act was written. No employer wants to make accommodations-the ADA makes it a requirement. Fight for what is Right!!!

[SuesquatchRN, BSN, RN]

I'm struck that I am sitting here reading a thread by health care workers who don't have medical coverage from their jobs or can't afford to pick it up or have been worked into diability and dropped.

Oy.

[deehaverrn]

the system is messed up, like the rest of healthcare the worker's co mpensation laws seem to be controlled by he insurance companies. while they are making money, injured workers are tormented and not treated fairly. although it is agreed that i was injured at work, AND my mri shows changes like bulging discs, degeneration, and tears which can cause pain, i have been treated like i am faking. although we as nurses are told to treat pts pain, mine is ignored,, i actually have been in so much pain at work that i have cried in pts rooms and find it impossible not to grimace when i need to bend to listen to breath sounds or examine a pt. Yet the docs act like i just work in an office or something. I can't take my meds and work cuz they make me fuzzy. I can't take nsaids cuz of their effect on my bp (skyrockets). I wouldn't mind so much if i was just assigned to help others with their assignments since then i could take a break or even leave when i can'tolerate the pain anymore. instead i have a full assignment and am just supposed to 'call for help" when needed. i feel guilty calling out of work, but its worse when i go in, and have to stay despite pain because i know its so short staffed i have been put in some really unsafe situations (for myself and the pt) and despite what administration stated (in court!!) there is not always help available when i ask

[jess123]

I am about to become a nursing student and have a hearing problem! Ive managed to lip read since it was diagnosed. i am not totally deaf, but i should think that in a few years i will be! Ive worked in a hospital for about 3 and a half years and people have been great (once they knew).

I think that whatever disability you have it should never stop you from doing what you want, and nursing is something i definately want!

Hats off to those who have more serious problems and have acheived such alot.

[SherBearRN]

Hi, everyone!

I'm a nurse with multiple sclerosis (MS). I was diagnosed May 2006 when I lost eye sight in my right eye. The ER at my hospital diagnosed me with optic neuritis after the MRI. I was scheduled four days later to see a neurologist. Fortunately I regained my eye sight. I did, however, continue to experience exasperations and they have continued non-stop over the last six months. I'm now out on short-term disability due to the latest flare.

When I was diagnosed, I was working on the transplant floor as a staff nurse. I had a great manager who - along with the nursing recruiter at my hospital - helped me get into another less physically demanding job. I went to a sit down position where I register patients for surgeries. It has been a good fit for me and has sustained my time working as a nurse. I am grateful to the hospital and the free benefits I receive as an employee. So far I haven't had to pay anything for my medications, which can cost more than $20,000 a year.

Unfortunately healthcare workers in certain areas of the country do not have the coverage like I have here in California. I moved from the Midwest where it cost me more than $300 a month for health insurance with a base of $17/hr. I couldn't afford to stay there! Also, if a nurse has a disability and tries to obtain coverage on his or her own, chances are that person will not eligible for coverage (like my MS). It is sad and angers me. I believe everyone deserves exceptional healthcare coverage regardless of income.

SherBear

[70sCat]

I am currently without medical coverage because I'm having to change jobs YET again due to my problems with Lupus. I can't afford COBRA payments so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I'll be flare-free for awhile. I remember reading earlier in this thread about nurses looking to change to another profession. I have been trying to find something else to do for a living for a long time. I love nursing, but 12+ hour days, mostly standing with few breaks are just killing me.

[Kowden]

Let me tell you about my experience: I was an RN working on a Cardiac step-down 30-bed unit. I was one of the 4 RN's staffed for the floor. We had no aides and had to do everything ourselves, only helping eachother. We had pre/post CABG pts., pre/post Caths, Stents, etc, etc, besides the usual MI's. We did our own IV's, pulled sheaths, assisted MD's with all procedures on the floor, numerous codes, cardioversions, etc. Anything cardic, we did.

I initially herniated my first disc in 1997 while lifting a male patient out of a chair with the assistance of another much taller nurse than I, mistake #1. That put me out of commision for 6 weeks. The proceded to do it 3 more times in the coorifice of 4 years, each time the damage progressed. But I was a trooper, I loved my job, I loved the nurses I worked with, we were a team, worked well together in every way, which is hard to find in a job. So that made is every more difficult for me.

One day in 2001, after report, I walked into the med room to obtain my patient's meds, I stood there and felt an undescrible pain in my back and legs, I just stood there, couldn't move, and cried. Fortunately another nurse came in and saw my distress....I was immediately taked to the ER, again, and that ended my nursing career for good.

After numerous tests, doctors, and surgeons seen, it was decided that I needed sugery. My first back surgery was with an anterior approach with a 15" incision. There were rods, plates, pins and screws placed, along with my own bone graft along with a donar graft. I was fused from L3-4, L4-5, L5-S1. Six months after that I "felt" something just wasn't right, but had to listen to the surgeon which they told me it takes "1 year for the grafts to heal". Well, I knew better and trusted my instincts. I told them something just wasn't right, but they wouldn't listen.

Finally, after 1 year of physical therapy, mutiple pain management approaches tried, multiple pain meds, (all of which I became addicted to by-th-way), they finally agreed that the donar graft did not take. So there I was again, back in the OR for a 2nd fusion, this time done posteriorly.

The added more titanium screws and plates with additional bone grafts. This was in 2003.

I always thought I would return to work! I never thought in my wildest dreams that I was disabled in any way. I did everything they told me to do, every physical therapy treatment there was out there, every med you could think of, aqua therapy, massage therapy, New Age therapies, I mean everything. Nothing worked. The pain never goes away. I am limited in my range of motion, my tasks of daily living are nonexistant without help. I am now that "disabled person".

Then the depression sets in. I was put on antidepressants, which only made things worse in my case, so they were discontinued. They didn't help with the pain at all anyway. I won't bore you with all the other meds, you know them all I'm sure.

This is the point I want to make now. Nobody told me that you only had 5 years to apply for SSDisability benefits. There is a time limit in which you can file, and I'm sure it is all the same for any state you live in since its Federal. Anyway, you always see all those commercials on TV telling you that you need a "lawyer" to do this for you....nonsense....I did it all myself and was granted SSDbenefits with my first try.

Here's the thing....I kept meticulous records of everything since that first day. I always got copies of all my records from any MD, hospital stay, XR, etc. etc. So I had already in my posession all the information I needed.

If there is anything that could help you in your process, is you must keep meticulous records of everything YOURSELF. Don't rely on anyone to keep accurate records for you, you know people make mistakes, especially where they are not concerned.

Only you know the true story, and only with your records are you able to back up anything they might dispute. Thats what saved me in my case.

The application is a multipage document asking you so many repeated questions in other ways, I think they try to trick you up or something. But they weren't going to do that to me, and they couldn't since I had the facts. And after so long, you do forget some of the things that happened, so it was a good thing I had all the paperwork to fall back on.

This is where your "documnetations skills" come in handy nurses!

In my case, I was never able to go back to work in any capacity. I do receive SSD benefits and also Workman's Compensation. Oh, thats another thing. Don't let anyone tell you that you MUST settle you case ! Thats a forifice. You do not have to EVER settle (in my case, I will never settle with the hospital I worked for, would not benefit me anymore).

I'm not saying every case is the same, you of course have to figure out your own situation as far as that goes. But be careful! Get as many facts from your State's Workman's Compensation office. There should be a 800 number in your phone bood. They will tell you all you need to know for nothing! Amazing how much you can do on your own without a so called "lawyer" there for you help. They get 20% of every dollar amount you might get if you use a lawyer. I thought they're not getting that from me since I could do this all myself. And I did.

So watch your backs, it never gets better out there. I miss my job so much. I found it so hard to adapt from going to nonstop working (sometimes I worked per diem in 2 other hospitals along with my regular job) to a complete invalid at first. What a hard pill to swallow. But that we'll leave for another blog, about depression from you accident!

Hope this helps someone.