chiariwarrior

I feel so disappointed in myself. I've been an RN since 2011. Right after I graduated I got diagnosed with EDS. A connective tissue disorder. Ended up having to have two neck surgeries to fused my skull to my spine, a back surgery to release my tethered spinal cord and got diagnosed with intracranial hypertension and had to have an lp shunt put in. So I was out of nursing for a few years. Since I've been back I have been working at a family clinic. I loved it and felt so good to be back working. But I felt with being an RN that I should try to go work at the hospital so I could regain some of my RN skills that I'm not getting at the hospital. Well I'm 3 weeks into orientation and I realize this was a bad idea. My body can not handle the stress or the work load and hours of med surg. I wanted so bad for it to work but there just is no way. When I left last night my neck was so tense and tight that both my arms were numb. I have nerve issues in my neck all the time but stress makes it worse. I am so disappointed and feel guilty that I can't do it. On one hand I feel like I should just push thru and try to deal with it. But on the other hand I know that it will have a negative effect on my health. I have two young boys and a hubby that need me to be able to be somewhat healthy for them. I dont know what I'm asking here. I guess I just need some advice or encouragement. I feel like a failure. And I know my manager is going to be mad when I have to quit in orientation. But I don't wanna waste more of their money when I know I can't do the job.

Thanks y'all! I will do that. Sure wish life would have turn out like I had planned, but apparently God had other plans for me. Praying I get to use the license that I worked so hard to get eventually.

Can you lose your nursing license because of not using it? I graduated and became an RN in 2011. I had about 6 months experience in ICU and then I was forced to quit because of health problems. I have since had 6 surgeries and have not been able to return to work. Then main problems i have is Elhers Danlos Syndrome and Intra Cranial Hypertension. My body is recovering from the last two years of spinal and brain surgeries, but slowly. It has already been almost three years since I have worked and I am figuring that it will be atleast two more years before my body is ready for me to go back. My question is can I lose my license for not using it? Do i have to go back to work in a specific time frame or i will lose it? I have had a few different people tell me different things so I thought I would see what yall said about it. Thanks! I know this is gonna be an up hill battle to get back into nursing bc i didnt have much experience before having to quit.

In have tried to get on school nursing with no luck so far. I was going to take the refresher course but when I read up on it, the Mississippi board of nursing made it seem like only those who have been out of nursing 5 yrs or more had to take it. I would love to take it and I'm sure I need it. Just literally don't have the $400 laying around to pay for it. I may have to get another job just to pay for the class to get back to a nursing job. Thank y'all for the suggestions! I really appreciate you taking the time to read this and post. Thank you!

I graduated in may of 2011. I work in ICU for about 2 months on my own. The rest of the time was orientation. I was forced to quit bc of health problems. Over the last two years I have had 5 surgeries. I had my neck fused to my skull, a tethered cord release, had the hardware from my fusion removed, had a lumbar shunt put in to relieve symptoms from intracranial hypertension, and a shunt revision. I am doing better now and looking to get back to nursing. But, my dr will only release me for PRN or part time. He says my body couldn't handle full time nursing right now. And I know he is right. But I don't know where to start. Will places hire part time or PRN nurses with very little experience and no recent experience? I feel like I have forgotten everything I learned. Very discouraged and don't know what to do. Any advice would be wonderful! Thanks for reading!

I don't have any advice for you but wanted you to know I am in a similar situation as you. I got my RN license and worked maybe 4 months. I have had some horrible health problems and haven't worked in two years. I have no idea how to get back into it. So you are not alone!

I don't really have any advice but I will be praying for you! I finished nursing school became an RN and shortly after found out I have a connective tissue disorder called EDS. It effects your collagen and there is no cure for it. I have had to have a brain surgery and a neck fusion since then. And in one month have to have a spinal surgery. I don't know if I will ever get to use my degree. It's very depressing so I know how you feel. I hope that someone on here has so advice for you. God bless you and always keep your fighting spirit. Just knowing you want to try and tackle this tells me you are a fighter.

Also I'm not sure what MDS or informatics are. I will have to google that. Thank you for the info!

Yes I'm sorry. I get used to referring to it as eds. It is ehlers danlos syndrome. I am in several support groups but have yet to meet a nurse with this condition. Most I have met are not working bc of the effects of this illness and some are on disability. But the ones I have met that work have jobs that are not physical jobs. I am 27 years old and not ready to give up. I have a lot of pain left that I am trying to learn to cope with but I know the longer I stay out of nursing the more I am going to forget. I don't know what I'm really asking here. I guess if anyone has been in a similar situation to this. Thank you so much for your response.

Thank you for your response. In all reality that is probably my best option. It is just so hard to get on at a clinic around here. It seems like when there is a job opening that someone gets it who had connections on the inside. That's how it works here in small town Mississippi anyways. I have been looking up to 60 miles away, but once again I'm not sure my neck would hold up to driving that far everyday. But yes I agree that I think that would be the best option for me. I just pray I can find something. Thank you so much for your response. I had considered just using this time to further my education and getting my BSN. But I hate to go into that with little experience as a nurse also.

I graduated nursing school in 2011. I worked about 6 months and some of that was orientation. Then I started having some health issues. I was dx with EDS. Since then I have had a neck fusion (August 2012). It took me that long to find a doc that was experienced in this and would help me. Fused my skull to my c1 and c2. I am still recovering and still having some health issues due to the EDS. It is non curable and I just have to live with it. My problem is I don't know where to go from here. I desperately want to use my degree and I think I was a good nurse but I feel like I have forgotten everything I learned. And I don't think my body is going to hold but to a full time physical nursing job. I don't know what to do. I may be facing another surgery in march if I am not better. It will be on my lower spine. My question is should I continue my education while I am at home not working bc of all this? Or should I try and find a part time nursing job somewhere. I have been looking but haven't found anything yet. I just don't know what to do. Any advice at all would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!!!!!

I graduated nursing school as an rn in may 2011. I worked for 4 month in a local hospital in icy. I began having g horrible neck pain to the point I had to quit Bc no doc could tell me what was wrong and the pain was unbearable. I had had brain surgery in 2006 for my chiari malformation. Since then I have had headaches but this neck pain was new. So I started working at a dialysis clinic thinking maybe a regular day shift would be alittle better. Boy was I wrong. The stress and all the leaning over at that clinic made it worse. I was forced to quit after about 5 months. After this I forced myself to search and find someone to help me. I went to see Dr Henderson who is the best chiari Dr in the country in my opinion even though he was 16 hrs away. He did a lot of testing and found out I had an unstable neck and the angle of my neck to skull was way off. With these findings he has decided to do a skull to c2 fusion with a rib graft. This is going to be done next week. The bad part is the recovery is long. He said at least 6 months before going back to any type of work. My question is does anyone know how hard it will be to work as a nurse with a neck fused? I am scared I am not gonna be able to find a job Bc of how long I will have been off and being so new also. And I will have a physical handicap as well. I'm just afaid. I don't know if I will be able to work a 12 hour shift at a hospital on the floor. Any thoughts or experience with this???? Thanks for reading.