Hi everyone, I'm an experienced registered nurse who works full-time in the med-surg department at a busy hospital working with a 6 patient workload at night.
I'm only 28 and was diagnosed with a L4-L5 disc herniation last year. Since that time, I've been hospitalized multiple times for unbelievable amounts of pain and the lack of ambulation ability. I've attempted relief having 3 sets of steroid injections for inflammatory control, been prescribed lyrica, and worked with PT for management of my radiculopathy and sciatica. Unfortunately, at times, I lose sensation down my left leg for a few seconds due to the disc being fully herniated onto the spinal nerve.
My concern is to keep living with this without any viable treatment plan. My doctor is concerned and isn't one for prescribing pain medication, he more-so seeks treatment plans that don't mask problems like when prescribing pain medication.
He told me that a back brace might help to give my spine an opportunity to "realign" itself but he said if I do that, I shouldn't take part in any activity that can aggravate my back. He threw around the idea of going light duty for a few months, wearing the back brace full time, and working with PT to attempt to get back to my best self.
To anyone that has an opinion, is this something I should consider? I definitely don't want to get back surgery due to the complications and I'm not one for relying on pain meds especially at a young age. I'm worried that if I go with a back brace, I won't be allowed any patient care and that might limit my options working at night. Unsure of what light duty options there are in the hospital??
I definitely don't want to be in pain and aggravate my back any more than it has been, but I don't have any experiences with back braces. Just seems I have tried everything else (pain meds, nerve meds, spinal steroid injections, PT, chiropractor, ice/cold packs, and stretches) with no major sign of improvement and this may be my last choice before needing a consult with a surgeon.
Because I work with 6 patients a night, the idea of "taking it easy" with a back brace seems challenging. I constantly pull/push/bend/lift/reposition throughout the whole shift and if the goal is to give my back a break, I think my duties as a bed side nurse should be lifted at least for a little time.
Any thoughts from those who have dealt with back issues or been on light duty due to any unfortunate circumstances? I would like to know what to tell my manager before deciding which route to take. Thank you!
The OP being only 28 years old and already having more than minor back problems, I would advise to think hard about alternatives to bedside nursing. There are plenty of them, from grad degrees to office/administrative and to specialties. Even if the facility offers "light duty", it cannot continue forever.
Risk of back trauma added quite a bit to my own decision to get into NP school ASAP.
as mentioned by others, if it's not a work-related injury, your employer does not have to accommodate your request for light duty.
Unfortunately, that's all it would be, if not workers comp, a request. I admit I don't know much about the american disabilities act. But, if hired for a certain position and employee later becomes unable to fulfill duties of this job description, it seems that would not fall under the ADA.
Hospitals usually have a decent variety of lite duty areas: PAT, follow-up phone calls for minor surgery the day prior, occupational health, chart audit, utilization review, case manage, infection control, etc,
Specializes in Cardio-Pulmonary; Med-Surg; Private Duty.
BY LAW, your facility is required to make reasonable accommodations, which includes allowing you light duty. For more information, you can look this up under EEOC's ADA online. Any conversation you have regarding this should take place in writing. Trust me on this.
This is NOT accurate, and a simple Google search will confirm it.
You would still need to be able to perform your expected nursing duties -- it's simply not "reasonable" to expect that a bedside nurse would never lift/push/pull more than X amount of weight.
An example of a reasonable accommodation would be providing a larger computer screen and a magnifying glass for an office worker who had visual problems, or an ergonomic keyboard/mouse for a secretary with carpal tunnel issues. Those are relatively inexpensive, one-time purchases to allow a worker to complete all of their usual tasks independently.
It's NOT reasonable to expect a hospital to hire an additional worker just to perform the physical duties of a nurse -- that's a huge on-going expenditure for an organization to undertake because a worker cannot complete all of their usual tasks independently. At that point, the onus is on the worker to find a job that they can reasonably perform (like case management, which is desk work without hands-on patient care).
Think about it -- should a taxicab have to hire a blind driver, and then turn around and provide that employee with their own little "helper" to actually drive the cab? How about a quadriplegic firefighter? A dental hygienist with no hands to do teeth cleaning?
There are some jobs that have physical requirements that cannot be reasonably accommodated. Bedside nursing is one of those jobs.
I recently injured my knee, and my work restrictions included no deep bending at the knee, limited ambulation/standing, and no pushing/pulling/lifting more than 20 pounds. I was off for a little over two months (short term disability) for surgery and rehab, because there is simply no way to do my job without lots of walking, standing, and lifting.
I did qualify for FMLA protection, so I didn't have to worry about losing my job, and I did have short term disability insurance that covered part of my wages, but the hospital did NOT have to hire me an assistant to perform my job functions while I followed along in a wheelchair.
Specializes in Care Coordination, General Surgery, Oncology.
I am relatively young and have chronic back issues also. My MRI was a mess of issues. I have done chiropractic, PT, steroid tapers (no injections yet), regular stretches, etc. I generally have a few weeks to months out of the year where I'm having pain so bad, I have to alter what I'm doing at work. Mostly that just means negotiating with the CNAs to help me out a bit more. The thing that helps me the most on an ongoing basis is pool exercise. I'm talking aqua aerobics with little old ladies who think I'm a high schooler. If I am going to the pool at least a couple times a week, I maintain my baseline of minimal pain a lot better.
That said, my plan has been to go back to school in a few years to kind of change directions. Currently in med-surg, planning to pursue more education and head towards primary care/research. Partly because that's what I'm interested in, partly because I don't want to ruin my back more.
KatieMI, BSN, MSN, RN
1 Article; 2,675 Posts
The OP being only 28 years old and already having more than minor back problems, I would advise to think hard about alternatives to bedside nursing. There are plenty of them, from grad degrees to office/administrative and to specialties. Even if the facility offers "light duty", it cannot continue forever.
Risk of back trauma added quite a bit to my own decision to get into NP school ASAP.