Strong Honest Opinions please, need help!

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Hello,

I worked as a PCT at a hospital in Florida and I really liked the work. I was certain that nursing is what I should do for my career. While working a patient turned into dead weight during a transfer and I know have facet joint injuries t1-t5 and am having a radio-frequency surgery for the second time. I am now in pain everyday and need to do the surgery to stop the pain. The problem is that there is no 100% healing with this injury, just possible death of the nerves for as long as they stay dead. At this point I do not know how well or how long I will recover this time. My concern is that I have already invested a year and a half doing prerequesites for nursing and I am not sure if I should continue for my degree, or change to something less physically demanding. I know ultimately it is up to me, but I really truly want to know a typical day at the hospital how much of this do I have to be able to do, regarding lifting. I know that fresh out of school you don't have a lot of options, so I am scared and I do not want to spend all the time and money and find out that I am not going to be able to handle the physical demand. I appreciate your help and honesty regarding my situation.

Thank you,

Crystal

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Specializes in UR/PA, Hematology/Oncology, Med Surg, Psych.
Hello,

I worked as a PCT at a hospital in Florida and I really liked the work. I was certain that nursing is what I should do for my career. While working a patient turned into dead weight during a transfer and I know have facet joint injuries t1-t5 and am having a radio-frequency surgery for the second time. I am now in pain everyday and need to do the surgery to stop the pain. The problem is that there is no 100% healing with this injury, just possible death of the nerves for as long as they stay dead. At this point I do not know how well or how long I will recover this time. My concern is that I have already invested a year and a half doing prerequesites for nursing and I am not sure if I should continue for my degree, or change to something less physically demanding. I know ultimately it is up to me, but I really truly want to know a typical day at the hospital how much of this do I have to be able to do, regarding lifting. I know that fresh out of school you don't have a lot of options, so I am scared and I do not want to spend all the time and money and find out that I am not going to be able to handle the physical demand. I appreciate your help and honesty regarding my situation.

Thank you,

Crystal

I am so, so sorry that this has happened to you. And kudos for continuing to work toward the future when you are having such a difficult time of it. But you wanted 'strong, honest' opinions so here goes...nursing can be physically demanding. Much lifting, standing, walking, etc. There are nursing positions that are less physically demanding, such as phone triage or utilization review, but they usually require some hands-on experience first. And it sounds like direct patient care is where your heart is.

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Specializes in none yet.

Okay u asked for an honest opinion, here goes. As a Rn i am required to do a lot of transferring, lifting etc. Before i got hired on, they ask you up front if you are able to lift a certain amount of pounds, and if not i doubt you will be hired for the position. it is a requirement for the job and if you are found to have lied about having a back injury on your application, and later on discovered that you do have a back injury, you can be terminated on the spot. I hate to say this but i don't think it would be in your best interest to continue with nursing, with the back problems that you have. You will not be able to handle the lifting requirement and being on your feet most of the time. Cut your losses now and try find something in healthcare that is less physically demanding and hopefully some of the course that you have already taken will transfer over into another area. Look at the positive, better you found out now than to have invested all that time and energy in something you can't handle later on. Good luck 2 u

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Specializes in NICU, Telephone Triage.
Hello,

I worked as a PCT at a hospital in Florida and I really liked the work. I was certain that nursing is what I should do for my career. While working a patient turned into dead weight during a transfer and I know have facet joint injuries t1-t5 and am having a radio-frequency surgery for the second time. I am now in pain everyday and need to do the surgery to stop the pain. The problem is that there is no 100% healing with this injury, just possible death of the nerves for as long as they stay dead. At this point I do not know how well or how long I will recover this time. My concern is that I have already invested a year and a half doing prerequesites for nursing and I am not sure if I should continue for my degree, or change to something less physically demanding. I know ultimately it is up to me, but I really truly want to know a typical day at the hospital how much of this do I have to be able to do, regarding lifting. I know that fresh out of school you don't have a lot of options, so I am scared and I do not want to spend all the time and money and find out that I am not going to be able to handle the physical demand. I appreciate your help and honesty regarding my situation.

Thank you,

Crystal

You can always work Nicu, where we have small pts. or Peds, anything smaller than adults!

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My mother in law has lupus and goes through periods where she is very sick, weak and tired. However, she is still a nurse. She just has to find where she fits. There are a ton of different types of nursing out there. HOWEVER- the biggest challenge to overcome would be school itself, because you don't get to pick and choose there. You work med-surg, and do a lot of lifting, moving, etc. A friend of mine recently broke her neck in a car accident and although (thankfully) she is alive and doing well, no paralyzation, etc...she will be unable to return to finish nursing school for AT LEAST a year in order to not risk aggravating the injury and letting it heal completely.

Perhaps you could speak to some of the nursing faculty at your college and see what they say?

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Specializes in Infection Preventionist/ Occ Health.

I work in peds and if anything I do more lifting. All of the small children expect to be picked up, especially when they're not feeling well. The other day I had a 100lb 6 year-old insist on being lifted (instead of standing on one foot and pivoting like she was instructed by PT) when she wanted to use the commode.

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Specializes in Oncology/Haemetology/HIV.

Honest opinions:

Nursing can be physically demanding. However, there are specialities that are less demanding than others, as well as positions that are less physical. The big issue is getting those jobs usually require experience or are in such demand by nurses injured in duty, it would be difficult to get them without experience. And getting that experience will be physically demanding.

NICU can be easier on your back, but there will still be times when you have to move equipment that may be on carpeting or difficult to manage. You also have to think about the strain of being on your feet, rushing up stairs or down, etc.

Have you talked to your MD about this?

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Specializes in Med-Surg.

My advice is no, don't do it.

The percentages of nurses with back pain on a regular basis is quite high. The number of nurses with disabling injuries is also disturbingly high.

You must be physically fit without restrictions to get into nursing school, otherwise you'll be a liability. Of course there are going to be many students chiming in they have back injuries and are students. There's currently one precepting on our unit. He was discharged from the Army for a back injury and is going to school for free. But during clinicals they are not going to allow you to have weight lifting restrictions and aren't going to make assignments based on your injury.

Non-floor jobs away from the bedside and lifting (are you interesting in non-patient care jobs?) are hard for a new grad to get.

It's not worth risking a life of chronic pain to become a nurse. Perhaps there's something else that you're interested in that could use those credits.

Nursing personnel are consistently listed as one of the top ten occupations for work-related musculoskeletal disorders, with incidence rates of 8.8 per 100 in hospital settings and 13.5 per 100 in nursing home settings (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2002). These are considered to be low estimates, since underreporting of injuries in nursing is common (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, 1999). Aggregated data on prevalence of back injury, compiled from over 80 studies, revealed an international worldwide point prevalence of approximately 17%, an annual prevalence of 40–50% and a lifetime prevalence of 35–80% (Hignett, 1996). While there has been a steady decline in the rates of most occupational injuries starting in 1992, work-related musculoskeletal disorders in nursing continue to rise (Fragala & Bailey, 2003).

Reference for above:

Nelson, Audrey PhD, RN, FAAN; Baptiste, Andrea S. MA (O.T), CIE Evidence-Based Practices for Safe Patient Handling and Movement. Orthopaedic Nursing. 25(6):366-379, November/December 2006.

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Specializes in ER, Med Surg, Endoscopy, Telemetry.

Dear Oceantides, The beautiful thing about nursing are the options you have. You can work in NICU, like the Kimbalou suggested. Or you could work at a dr. office or clinic. What about a pharmaceutical sales rep? If I were you, I'd do some serious research about nsg. jobs before I gave up a lifelong dream. There's more than hospital work. I'm so sorry this happened to you. I agree with caroladybell-check with your dr. And no matter what all of us say, you will have to make the decision that feels right to you. Good luck!:balloons:

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Thank you all for your input, I really appreciate it. It is just hard to give up a dream, I guess. I also do understand the flip side of hurting worse everyday, just to be a nurse, that is scary too. I really enjoy caring for patients, but it is hard for me to accept my limitations and really apply them to my life. Are any of you working with pain? I want to embrace my goal and dream, but I want to be reasonable to myself as well. I will continue contemplating for a while, my MD. says there are so many fields and you don't have to lift in everyone, don't give up your dream. My pain Dr. said that I should not continue a career that requires frequent lifting. This is where my confusion comes from. I appreciate your honesty and look forward to whatever decision I end up making.

Thank you,

Ocean

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Specializes in Cardiology.

You only have one back. If it's already causing you trouble, nursing will only aggrevate it. There are other fields that can give you the satisfaction of helping someone. You can change to clinical social work. They are involved in direct patient care and are part of the healthcare team. You could become a dietician and teach patients newly diagnosed with diabetes, renal disease, or heart disease how to manage their health with good nutrition. You could become a speech therapist and help the pt trying to recover from a stroke. There are so many options out there, don't feel limited to just nursing. I wish you the best of luck.

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Specializes in ER, Occupational Health, Cardiology.

Go for something less physically demanding.

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