Please help. Career over before it starts.

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Hello everyone. I am 24 years old and just graduated with my BSN in may. I have a job lined up in a busy ICU but unfortunately I've been diagnosed with Degenerative disc disease and have been having a lot of back problems for the last 6 months. Doctor says I will likely improve but that I will have to be careful from now. Because of my illness, it seems like my worst nightmare is coming true and I'm going to have to turn down the job. At this point it seems like the vast majority of nursing jobs are out of the question for me due to having to turn/readjust patients and just the general physical nature of nursing. I still however want to be a clinical nurse, and most non-clinical nursing jobs seem to require at least a little bit of clinical experience. I've been trying to think of clinical nursing jobs that might be practical for me. So far all I have been able to come up with is NICU or Psych. I would really appreciate some suggestions from people in specialties that are not very physically taxing as well as advice from others with DDD or other back issues. I'm pretty desperate here. Thank you in advance. :)

Have you tried an inversion table? It helped my pinched nerve due to disc damage. Do you like peds? Also, there's newborn nursery. I loved working there!

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Specializes in Med/Surg/Infection Control/Geriatrics.

As someone who also deals with a bit of a spinal disability, I'd like to weigh in as well. I hurt my back back in 2001. Annual tears and DDD. No surgery. But, lots of physical therapy and core strengthening (plus shedding a few pounds) allowed me to stay in Med/Surg for many years after. If I overdid it, I would have a Medrol dose pak for a week and it would be fine. Not often. In 16 years, I think I've taken them about 5 times. Ice paks became my friend during those times and Ibuprofen.

But that was me.

I watch my body mechanics and am careful not to sit in chairs that can hurt me. You are on your feet a lot working in the hospital environment which is really good for you anyway. So don't stress about this. Just recognize your limitations but don't short change yourself.

Ask for a physical therapy referral for an evaluation and appropriate program. If he doesn't think it's needed, then do some online research for safe strengthening and body mechanics guidelines. Run it by the doc and if he/she ok's it, forge on!

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As someone who also deals with a bit of a spinal disability, I'd like to weigh in as well. I hurt my back back in 2001. Annual tears and DDD. No surgery.

Did you mean to say annular tears? I have had those too many times to count. They are quite painful. No one has ever offered me steroids for that, though. I wish they had.

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Specializes in Hospice, Palliative Care.

Also consider Hospice RN Case Manager.

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Specializes in Geriatrics, Dialysis.

This might sound like an insane suggestion to some, but have you considered LTC nursing? In the right facility the level of physical work the nurse does is fairly minimal. You would still have a ton of standing/walking as well as some bending to access lower drawers in the med cart and for treatments. What you wouldn't have is the heavy lifting combined with bending/twisting like you would be doing while performing ADL's with patients. I work with a few nurses with chronic medical issues that have difficulty with some of the more physical aspects of nursing, while they are not overly popular with the CNA's since they won't help with lifting these nurses are still more than capable of doing their nursing job.

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Specializes in Psych ICU, addictions.

OP, if you think psych isn't physically demanding, you are sorely mistaken. I say this as someone who had to help reposition and toilet a 100kg catatonic patient for one half of a shift and break up fights for the other half. Nurses have to do a lot more than pass out meds in psych, and we don't always get the luxury of having techs/CNAs to help us.

I'm sometimes surprised that I don't have a back problem after nearly a decade of doing this.

Anyhow...

If you back is going to make it difficult for you to work at the bedside, you may want to think outside of the acute care box and look at offices, clinics, outpatient, schools, community, public health, and other non-acute care settings.

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Corrections! Im in jail...lol . Im either sitting or standing, rarely bending. Love it. We are an outpatient clinic/detox/psych hospital basically:)

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You can ask for modification from your job with an actual disability and they have to provide you with reasonable accommodations. You can also ask your fellow co-workers for help. I was diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis 6 months ago and I've been having pain for at least 10 years. I worked all this time (4 years) as a nurse and only hurt my back once. It was due to a co-worker improperly lowering a patient to the ground and I had to catch the patient's head. I'm in my early 30's so I have a lot of working years ahead of me so I get it but I make it work.

See this link for possible accommodations. I chose back because it seemed easiest but you can look around the website to see what suits you best. Accommodation Ideas

She's a new hire, on probation. Why would an employer want to hire someone who wants/needs accommodations right out of the gate? It's a good idea for someone who's already past probation, though.

best wishes to you and to OP. I don't know too many nurses who don't have some kind of back issues.

OP - I've never worked NICU. Lots of standing there?

Psych, School Nursing, Correctional Facility Nursing, Skills Lab Instructor, and Nurse Informatics come to mind.

OP, are you planning to tell your employer what your Dx is? I don't think you have to.

So many great ideas here - Tele Health, Clinic, Doc's Office, Public/Community Health, Parish Nursing. I'll add MDS coordinator, Wound Nurse, IV Nurse, Instructor of CNA's and LPN's.

Always use absolutely perfect body mechanics, strengthen your abdominal muscles, NEVER plunge in to a situation if it could hurt your back. Always get help. You will be no help to others if you get hurt.

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Specializes in Labor & Delivery, Med-surg.

I've had back and neck injuries so am very careful. It didn't stop me from bedside care BUT I always asked for help turning and lifting patients. If I were you I'd try that ICU job. It would be much less lifting than on a medical floor and more staff to help.

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Specializes in Peds, Neuro, Orthopedics.

I've done school nursing for 2 years now. Crap pay, but I haven't lifted a human yet. I call EMS and they lift the unconscious ones (and take them away).

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I hear what you are saying. I realize that it can be very physical at times. But I also know that it depends on the facility. The psych unit that I rotated on in nursing school was not very physical from what I could tell, at least MOST of the time. This is the same unit I hope to work on. They also have lots of techs to help break up fights and get physical with the patients if needed. Compared to the ICU job that I have that requires turning dead weight on a daily basis.

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Specializes in Hospice.
Also consider Hospice RN Case Manager.

Hospice RN Case Manager is an awesome job - but I will say it can involve a lot of not-so-ergonomically correct back positions/ maneuvers for skin assessments, repositioning patients/ educating family members on repositioning and procedures (catheter placement, port access etc). Not all hospice patients opt for hospital beds. Some remain in their own beds or recliners! Plus there may be very limited assistance since typically the hospice RN works alone.

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