rn5878

actually babylady, i too have been let go because of my back...twice. i have had 3 back surgeries. the company stated that they felt that i could no longer perform the physical requirements of the job and that it would be a major liability to keep me working in an icu where i often perform heavy lifting. they still let me go even after i was cleared by neurosurgery. i spoke to a lawyer about it. they told me i had no case at all if the hospital felt i did not meet the physical requirements of the job. the lawyer also said the hospital was not required to accept a letter from a neurosurgeon whom was not their own. so lecavalier4 , i understand where you're coming from. it's an unfair situation and people are so judgmental and have nothing better to do than assume you're faking it or whatever. what they should be doing is taking care of their patients and minding their own business. i bust my butt at work, am charge nurse often, and have earned my ccrn and cnrn. i am on two committees. i feel like nurses are so mean to each other sometimes!

Did you ever find a solution? I've now had 3 back surgeries and I'm only 35. I started out doing med/surg for a couple of years and then ICU for the past 8 years. My job let me go after this most recent back surgery. But like you, sitting is torture for me, too!! I think it's worse than being on my feet for 12 hours. I don't know what to do!

Hi, I know this is a really old post, but I guarantee people are still reading it. All I can tell you, I'd had a lumbar laminectomy prior to becoming a nurse and I was fine. I was hired for a job, packed up and moved to Charleston, SC. It was a med/surg position. Once I got there I was pulled out of orientation and told that after reviewing my occupational health screening, I did not meet the physical requirements of the job due to my previous back surgery. I presented them with a letter from my neurosurgeon stating that I could perform the job without restrictions, and the hospital would not accept the letter. Finally after seeing a lawyer, the hospital agreed to put me through a 3 hour functional capacity exam by a PT to prove that I could perform all the functions of the job. For example, I had to pick up 50 pounds, walk a certain distance, turn around, walk back, and place the item back on the floor. After a month of fighting, I got my job. I did med/surg for a couple of years and then went to ICU and have been an ICU nurse ever since. After that experience I decided that since I'd been cleared by a functional capacity exam, there was no point in mentioning the back surgery to anyplace else I worked just to be put through the same nonsense.