Nursing School and Career with Back Problems

Nurses General Nursing

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Hi everyone,

I'm 36 years old and planning to start an accelerated BSN program in the Fall. I am a little nervous as to how I will deal with the physical aspects of the job. I currently have 5 herniated discs as well as arthritis in my spine and knees. Obviously this will not improve with age so I'm concerned about starting a new career at this age and what it will mean for me physically. Does anyone have any recommendations or advice on how the physical aspects of school and the job can be handled?

Thank you,

Mary

Specializes in oncology, MS/tele/stepdown.

How many times have you shadowed for a full 12 hour shift? I think that's something you need to do to understand what you'd be getting into. Obviously there are areas of nursing that require less physical labor than others, but do new nurses where you live and work get into those areas without a year or two of med-surg? Can your body tolerate a year or two of med-surg? If your goal is to avoid that type of nursing entirely, do you have the connections to do so?

Have you considered any other healthcare positions? I had no idea before nursing what else was out there. Respiratory therapist, imaging tech, occupational therapy, etc. There are many ways to work in healthcare if that's what you want. If you haven't investigated any of those areas, maybe check them out.

If you are reconsidering, ask your school about deferring your enrollment until next year. If you decide to go, don't be afraid to say that it isn't for you and drop out. If you find clinicals are too labor-intensive for you, just know that working the floor will be much more challenging.

Good luck!

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4 hours ago, NurseBlaq said:

How? I have one and a pinched nerve and I'm afraid of back surgery.

Mine was actually in my neck. I had the disc replaced and then my neck fused. My nerve on the left side was completely pinched. I couldn’t feel my hand anymore. I’m pain free now and my life is so much better.

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Specializes in NICU/Mother-Baby/Peds/Mgmt.

And it's not just standing, sitting, turning patients... it's crouching down and then having to get up again. I hurt my knee as a young nurse and crouching was the easy part, it was getting up again that hurt like heck. Luckily I did PT and it was short lived but I remember the pain very well.

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My back didn’t appreciate the constant bending over and lifting I needed to do while working on the floor. I had surgery and thank goodness it’s way improved. My doc wanted me out of bedside nursing so I’m doing something else now. Nursing is very very tough on backs.

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Specializes in retired LTC.

OP - it is a sad reality when you acknowledge that any slight, innocuous action might cause you to ZIG when you should've ZAGGED.

Like you walk into a pt's room and skid on a puddle of spilled water (the blind pt didn't know she had spilled some water!). Man, oh , man, the contortions I did doing a pseudo swan-dive pirouette avoiding the fall! Pulled muscles I didn't even know I had!

Things like that DO happen. It wouldn't take much to put you out permanently. Even a misstep on your cellar steps or your cat tangling up your feet can potentially put you out of commission, perhaps permanently.

It may be true that anything can happen outside of the work environment. But the nature of nsg puts you at such a higher risk. Your health would be at jeopardy all the time and that includes in school.

Sorry to be adding my concerns to all those of the PPs, but you seriously might want to consider other health-care tangential fields like Public Health, Medical Social Work, Speech Therapy, etc. All are respected professional fields and work closely within healthcare. But the physical demands should be less.

Good luck with your decision and your health.

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Specializes in PCCN.

Sorry to say , I don’t recommend it. As someone with stenosis, neuropathy, and a recent tkr mid 50s after starting nursing at 38, I did not expect that outcome . And I can lift fine,it’s the standing for 8 hours with no break that does me in.anytime I’ve blown a disc ,it was from something stupid , like twisting to pick up a grocery bag at home.

can you reconsider another vocation?or I suppose you could focus on informatics maybe ?good luck.

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Specializes in Urgent Care, Oncology.
On 6/14/2020 at 12:17 AM, person115 said:

Thanks everyone for your comments and advice. I appreciate everyone's feedback and thought perhaps I should give a little bit more detail. Some of the herniations are minor. I do have chronic lower back pain though, whether due to the herniation or not is not really established. I've tried physical therapy, trigger point injections and epidurals to no avail. I've had back problems since I was a teenager with no real explanation as to why. I've never really gotten a very satisfactory explanation for everything, though obviously now the herniated disks and beginnings of arthritis make sense. My rheumatologist didn't count me out when I asked her about being able to do a program if I got a good exercise program in place but I'm not sure how much stock to put in that (I'm not thrilled with her as a doc in the first place). I've wanted to go into nursing for years and finally have the opportunity to do so. However, looking at clinical schedules and thinking about the amount of physical labor involved is giving me a lot of pause.

Have you been tested for Ankylosing Spondylitis? It took me YEARS to get diagnosed because I had cancer and every doc thought my back pain and neuropathy was related to my cured cancer.

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Specializes in ER, Pre-Op, PACU.
On 6/13/2020 at 11:28 AM, person115 said:

Hi everyone,

I'm 36 years old and planning to start an accelerated BSN program in the Fall. I am a little nervous as to how I will deal with the physical aspects of the job. I currently have 5 herniated discs as well as arthritis in my spine and knees. Obviously this will not improve with age so I'm concerned about starting a new career at this age and what it will mean for me physically. Does anyone have any recommendations or advice on how the physical aspects of school and the job can be handled?

Thank you,

Mary

I also have some medical issues so it has made things more difficult in my job. It is doable, but you have to re-think job choices, make adjustments on your job, and find alternative ways to do things. Have you thought of NICU or nursery after graduating? That will not be hard on your back or body.

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15 hours ago, DowntheRiver said:

Have you been tested for Ankylosing Spondylitis?

Hi DowntheRiver. Thanks for your response. I have been tested for that, thank you for the suggestion though!

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Thanks to all who provided responses. My interests are more in the fields of public health and social services. My intention is not to work on a hospital floor generally, obviously I will have less control in the school program as to where my clinicals are. I'm going to talk to the school to get their take on the situation and see what, if any accommodations they have.

Thank you again to all,

Mary

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On 6/13/2020 at 3:58 PM, SilverBells said:

My suggestion would be to reach out to any schools you would be considering. What sort of accommodations would they be willing to allow? Would you be required to meet all clinical requirements or could they make some exceptions? Many schools are required to accommodate students with disabilities to a certain extent. Prior to reaching out to them, you may want to consider evaluating which area of nursing you are looking at going into. Evaluate the requirements of that specialty to see if you can truly meet the demands the job would require. If, after researching that specialty, you feel that you could be successful in that area of nursing, reach out to the nursing school and advocate that you are pursuing the degree for a specific reason. Outpatient or clinic areas of nursing may be more willing to accommodate you than a hospital or SNF might be.

Thanks so much for your suggestions. I will reach out to the school to see what their thoughts are and what, if anything, can be accommodated. I'm more interested in social services and public health rather than hospital floor work though I know I probably won't be able to "pick" for clinicals in school.

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Specializes in retired LTC.

Hey! I guessed 2 good options for you!

Am glad that you are open to other possibilities. Particularly, in that schooling won't be as potentially jeopardizing as I seriously doubt that you'd be lifting or carrying or moving 250+ lb pts in a school program.

You haven't commented re your previous education or current career, and that's your perogative. So we're limited how to better help you. Anyway, PH & Soc Work can be very attuned to your aspirations in public policy initiatives, or providing domestic abuse, veterans & homeless services, just naming a few.

Since you're some years away from retirement, however, your choices may direct you, you'll still need to consider long term planning to include job advancement, education opp'ties, etc. I don't seeing nsg offering any great stable & secure future possibilites. Other career paths have good potential.

Post back if you wish more suggestions.

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