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!

[Kooky Korky, BSN, RN]

On 3/9/2019 at 1:33 PM, Ruby Vee said:

She/he. Whatever. Most of the time, the pronoun of choice is "he", and we women have put up with that for thousands of years. If we err on the side of "she" on this forum, the men can learn to adapt.

OMG

LOL

[KellSummers]

Both of my nursing jobs involved lots of sitting. I actually want to find a new one because I would like to be more active!

I work as a home health nurse for medically complex children, where I go to their house and monitor them at night time to make sure they are stable (most of them have trachs, feeding tubes, and are on ventilator support overnight. Usually the first hour and the last hour, I do most the standing when I am getting my patients ready for bed or waking them up. I'm sure there are similar private duty nursing companies near you. I work for Ivy Lane Pediatrics, but it is only in Utah.

My other job is as a clinical instructor. Most of the walking is done at the beginning of the shift when I am getting students assigned to nurses, but after that, I just check on them every 2 hours. In my down time, I find a good spot and work on homework on my laptop.

Don't give up hope, you'll find something. Also screw the lady who thinks you need to "earn" your right to sit. Not sure how we have such bigoted nurses around still.. I really dislike this attitude as a somewhat new nurse.

[Wuzzie]

7 hours ago, KellSummers said:

My other job is as a clinical instructor. Most of the walking is done at the beginning of the shift when I am getting students assigned to nurses, but after that, I just check on them every 2 hours. In my down time, I find a good spot and work on homework on my laptop.

So what you’re saying is you fob off your students on already overworked nurses who aren’t getting paid to do your job while your job pays you to sit and do your own homework? Am I hearing you right? Do you have any idea what that sounds like to those of us who have students assigned to us? Do you honestly think that’s the right way to instruct? I am utterly flabbergasted that you would actually admit this...to thousands of nurses. No wonder so many new grads come to the floor completely incapable of functioning at even the most basic level.

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

10 hours ago, KellSummers said:

Both of my nursing jobs involved lots of sitting. I actually want to find a new one because I would like to be more active!

I work as a home health nurse for medically complex children, where I go to their house and monitor them at night time to make sure they are stable (most of them have trachs, feeding tubes, and are on ventilator support overnight. Usually the first hour and the last hour, I do most the standing when I am getting my patients ready for bed or waking them up. I'm sure there are similar private duty nursing companies near you. I work for Ivy Lane Pediatrics, but it is only in Utah.

My other job is as a clinical instructor. Most of the walking is done at the beginning of the shift when I am getting students assigned to nurses, but after that, I just check on them every 2 hours. In my down time, I find a good spot and work on homework on my laptop.

Don't give up hope, you'll find something. Also screw the lady who thinks you need to "earn" your right to sit. Not sure how we have such bigoted nurses around still.. I really dislike this attitude as a somewhat new nurse.

Oh my. So many things not to like in this post, so few words!

I don't recall anyone saying you have to earn your right to sit, but then perhaps my reading comprehension was at fault. What I DID see was posters telling the OP that most of those jobs with copious sitting opportunity require EXPERIENCE -- something that the OP doesn't have and can only get by working at the bedside for at least a couple of years. New grads aren't qualified for most of those jobs. So if that's what you meant by "earn" your right to sit, then the OP does indeed have to earn her right to sit. You may dislike the facts, but that doesn't mean they're wrong, and you may dislike the person who explains the facts, but that doesn't mean the facts are wrong, either.

By the way -- I really dislike your attitude as well. I find it uninformed and entitled.

Now, as far as your job as a clinical instructor -- I have been a clinical instructor, too, and I cannot believe that you really think it's your job to get your students paired with nurses and then just "check on them every two hours." That is laziness in the extreme. (Not inconsistent with your assertion that one doesn't have to earn one's right to a "cushy job" by acquiring the knowledge and experience required to do that job.)

I cannot help but wonder how you grade your students? Do you go completely by what the RN shares with you? How to you determine the RN's appropriateness as an instructor? If you aren't constantly rounding on your students and assessing their time management, critical thinking, knowledge of the medications they're giving and the disease processes involved, how do you know if your students will be come safe practitioners? How to you get to know their strengths and their weaknesses? What do you do to work on their weaknesses?

Like precepting, I found being a clinical instructor a lot more difficult than just showing up to work and taking care of my assigned patients.

I agree with Wuzzie . . . You're part of the reason so many new grads fail and leave nursing.

[Rose_Queen, BSN, MSN, RN]

11 hours ago, KellSummers said:

Both of my nursing jobs involved lots of sitting. I actually want to find a new one because I would like to be more active!

I work as a home health nurse for medically complex children, where I go to their house and monitor them at night time to make sure they are stable (most of them have trachs, feeding tubes, and are on ventilator support overnight. Usually the first hour and the last hour, I do most the standing when I am getting my patients ready for bed or waking them up. I'm sure there are similar private duty nursing companies near you. I work for Ivy Lane Pediatrics, but it is only in Utah.

My other job is as a clinical instructor. Most of the walking is done at the beginning of the shift when I am getting students assigned to nurses, but after that, I just check on them every 2 hours. In my down time, I find a good spot and work on homework on my laptop.

Don't give up hope, you'll find something. Also screw the lady who thinks you need to "earn" your right to sit. Not sure how we have such bigoted nurses around still.. I really dislike this attitude as a somewhat new nurse.

Named the home health employer, possibly use your real name as your username. Hope your employers don't come across your posts and find something they don't like... people have been fired over social media postings.

As for your attitude as a nursing instructor, just wow! Leaving the students alone, foisted off on the staff nurses who likely aren't getting any form of compensation but getting the extra work of dealing with a student while you're off doing your own homework? You are exactly what is wrong with nursing education.

[ABC123LOOKATME]

Try doctors' offices or a clinic. I know Planned Parenthood and community health centers will hire relatively new grads.