Sitting down - New nurse looking for advice

[MgoBlue37]

Hi everyone!

I recently graduated from an accelerated nursing program as a BSN this past December and was offered a position in a Level III ED hospital in a large Metropolitan area. However, due to personal health reasons I've been having a rough time with my new job. Without going into a long story, I've had major back surgery 4 times (2 discectomies, 1 spinal fusion, 1 reconstruction) since the age of 19 due to a herniated disc from a college sports injury. I've been active my whole life, but the part that gets me is standing on my feet for longer than 30-45 minutes without sitting down - I'm talking 8-9/10 level sciatic-type pain. I was able to complete all of my clinicals while in school with minimal issues with my pain, but since starting my new job and working 12.5 hour shifts I've been in so much pain.

Being a new nurse is tough as it is, but I've been excelling in my new position and really love all the activity of the ED - I've been in 1 code, hung TPA, and had 3 critical stroke patients just in my first week of work. However, every day at work I'm in so much pain that I just can't function normally. Every shift I've had in the first month and a half I've been able to sit for maybe 15 minutes consecutively in a 6-7 hour span, it's just that busy. Without further personal details, I do see pain management on a regular basis and there's not much more they can do for me outside of doping me up which is not an option for me. I feel I have to step away from this position since I cannot take the pain anymore. I'm not sure where to look for a nursing job where I can sit down for the majority of my shift. I really need to think long term here for my health since I have at least 35 years left of work before I retire.

Without any prior experience, what areas of nursing could I look into where I could sit down? I've thought of these areas that "may" allow me to sit, but I'm curious as to what others think?

- Public health nurse: County job
- Circulating nurse?: can they sit down during their shift?
- CVICU: I've heard many nurses can sit at the end of the bed of a Pt and monitor from there
- Chart review: Non-clinical and many of them want experience (IDK if this is interesting to me)
- School nursing: Not big in my area - many nurses are contracted through agencies not affiliated with the actual district

I really don't know where to look at this point. I will definitely miss the action of the ED, but my health is way more important and at this point there's not much physically more I can do. Thanks for any input!

[FolksBtrippin, BSN, RN]

3 hours ago, Ruby Vee said:

We had an ACT Team in my last hospital -- it was the Anti-Coagulant Team. They managed patients who were in the rehab unit or out-patients on Coumadin or some other anti-coagulant. They did patient teaching, monitored lab results, ordered labs, etc.

Lol, ACT has a few different meanings! But I never heard that one!

[Reginarus]

Don’t kill yourself. You will burn out mentally too fast. I’m also in ED, and it’s masochism to help others alleviate their pain when you yourself are in pain. We have one nurse who has chronic pain and sometimes pain is so much she cries. She used up all her sick days. She also goes to pain management. She has a couple years before the retirement and this is her hope to get out.

Nursing is a huge area, and this is a big plus. One of the options is to be a field/visiting nurse and then you can teach HHA’s . I started field nursing with no experience in it through a recruiter. Now I’m offered the same position by many directly. There is also case manager position in home health agencies and health insurance companies, and I’m offered it too. I mean since you are new, a recruiter maybe helpful to start. In terms of hospital, I don’t know, I heard endoscopy is physically easy.

[Nunya, BSN]

I agree with what's been said about the NICU, or even a stepdown from the NICU. I've worked it. Now sometimes it's a lot of getting up and down if alarms are going off, parents are busy and you can't sit next to them and answer questions/help etc but unless your baby/babies are REALLY critical then there's usually enough time to sit and chart, feed etc. Maybe you can try it out by shadowing someone if your hospital has a NICU.

[Oldmahubbard]

I couldn't stand extensively without pain when I finished nursing school at the age of 30. Arthritis. I did my time in the hospital, not even a year, and moved on to home health and then psych. It helped that I wasn't interested in a typical hospital career.

[ILoveHorsesRN, ADN]

I sent you a PM

[DowntheRiver]

19 hours ago, DaniannaRN said:

Me. I had less than 6 months of experience before getting into this industry. Some of my coworkers as well

Just because that was your experience doesn't mean it's not true. I always find it amusing when people try to discredit something a person they don't even know says as not true only because their experience was different.

Hi, please read - I said my experience may be anecdotal, just as YOURS might be as well.

[Alex_RN, BSN]

I work in a large hospital with many specialty positions. Some ideas:

Procedure specific nursing, like GI, Cardiac,Interventional Radiology. They all stand but it seems more planned and organized.

Nurse Educators don't seem to be on their feet as much. We have them for both patients, like diabetes, and unit-specific for staff.

Good luck! In my experience there are a lot of one of a kind, never heard of, type jobs out there. I bet you will find one that fits you.

[Rose_Queen, BSN, MSN, RN]

57 minutes ago, Alex_RN said:

Nurse Educators don't seem to be on their feet as much. We have them for both patients, like diabetes, and unit-specific for staff.

Nurse educators need to have the experience to know what they’re educating about. Definitely not a job for someone with less than at least 5 years in that specialty.

[Kooky Korky, BSN, RN]

What's wrong is your bitterness and lack of compassion.

You suffered, so everyone else should suffer.

[Mini2544, ASN, RN]

On 3/6/2019 at 8:55 PM, MgoBlue37 said:

Well I certainly don't agree with your point of view, and to be honest it seems that you come from the idea of "old school" nursing to me that the profession is trying to change. I don't feel that I should have to "earn" my right to be able to sit down in nursing or any other profession for that matter. That is a type of elitist attitude that is very condescending.

My motives to go into nursing were to offer the ability to help those who cannot help themselves. What about nurses who are disabled, that use wheelchairs, or prosthetics, should they not join the nursing profession because some roles are more physically demanding than others? Just because I'd like to sit down for a legitimate physical reason does not mean that I cannot provide more than adequate care for anyone in any setting. While in the ED, I can go into a Pt's room and sit down and talk with them in order to review their complaints, history, etc. I doubt any of them are thinking why is this nurse not standing and talking to me instead of sitting down - in fact it has been proven in numerous studies that Pt's feel more comfortable and communicate much more effectively when a provider is able to be at bedside at an eye-to-eye level.

That being said, I know there is much more to nursing than just bedside which is why I'm posting in the first place to reach out to those who are kind enough to offer advice that have been in the field in other areas.

On 3/6/2019 at 8:55 PM, MgoBlue37 said:

Well I certainly don't agree with your point of view, and to be honest it seems that you come from the idea of "old school" nursing to me that the profession is trying to change. I don't feel that I should have to "earn" my right to be able to sit down in nursing or any other profession for that matter. That is a type of elitist attitude that is very condescending.

My motives to go into nursing were to offer the ability to help those who cannot help themselves. What about nurses who are disabled, that use wheelchairs, or prosthetics, should they not join the nursing profession because some roles are more physically demanding than others? Just because I'd like to sit down for a legitimate physical reason does not mean that I cannot provide more than adequate care for anyone in any setting. While in the ED, I can go into a Pt's room and sit down and talk with them in order to review their complaints, history, etc. I doubt any of them are thinking why is this nurse not standing and talking to me instead of sitting down - in fact it has been proven in numerous studies that Pt's feel more comfortable and communicate much more effectively when a provider is able to be at bedside at an eye-to-eye level.

That being said, I know there is much more to nursing than just bedside which is why I'm posting in the first place to reach out to those who are kind enough to offer advice that have been in the field in other areas.

You said it perfectly! There is more to nursing than bedside. I think outpatient pre op/pacu would be excellent for you, the only issue is that most of those require at least 1 year experience. If you have some good connections, you may be able to sell your great personality and attitude! Good luck finding something that is better suited for your personal health. ?

[Green Tea, RN]

I was shocked when I was told that one of my friends (an RN) broke her back at work and ended up being forced out. She was still in her 20s with less than a year of nursing experience. After it happened, I started to think the same thing can happen to me anytime as long as I work in an acute care setting. I started to seriously think about the rest of my career (30+ years) and decided to go back for my master's degree in a STEM field. It seemed many nursing jobs are available, but sadly majority of them are physically demanding.
When I worked on a night shift in psych a couple years ago, my job was like that of a clerk. I most of my time checked the patients chart for completeness, sitting. At the workplace, I even saw an RN with a cane because the job was not that physically demanding.

Good luck.

[twinsmom788]

2 hours ago, Kooky Korky said:

What's wrong is your bitterness and lack of compassion.

You suffered, so everyone else should suffer.

I love this reply. I never worked med surg ( except in college when we had to be in charge and my first experience was the medicine floor on 3-11) My take away from that rotation was move on to another interest. However, I still remember the kindness and guidance of the other nurses and staff who pulled together to make those shifts as good as could be with a totally green student.

To quote one of my favorite anesthesiologists who served in Vietnam and also went back there with the Peace Corps..." no one should suffer, ever".