Re: Pain meds Kathy K.

[Guest guest]

Hi Kathy

I am sorry you are having such a rough time.Have you tried any kind of

private duty nursing? If there isn't any lifting perhaps you could do that

especially third shift when the patient is sleeping. ( well supposed to be

eh?) Also are you allowed to practice nursing while taking these

medications?

In another post you mentioned that you are short of money for food have you

contacted your local food bank? Perhaps they can help you a bit. Also the

Salvation Army can help with rent and medications sometimes. Have you

applied for any LIEAP funds from public assistance to help with your power

and electricity bills?

Have you spoken to a lawyer that specializes in SSDI? You have nothing to

lose the first appointment is free.

I wish you the best.

Kaylene

>Hi Everyone,

>

>I'm on some very strong pain medication and a lot of times (most of

>the time) it isn't helping. If I can stay home and lay down, I can

>toerate the pain, sometimes by using heat or ice. But I have to work

>and I'm not doing so good with it. I'd love to be able to get the

>disabilty that all of my doctors tell me I need, but I'm totally

>alone and I have to have money coming in, for the usual: rent, car,

>health insurance, etc... and I MUST have money to be able to keep

>getting my prescriptions. At this point, If I'd be cut off from my

>pain meds, I'd go into withdrawl, siezures and it could even possibly

>cause death. So, I'm doing my best to work, but am in tears at each

>break, before and after work, etc... I'm paying a HUGE price for

>trying to keep working. I don't have any other solutions.

>

>

>Kathy K.

>kkellen@...

>

>

>

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[Guest guest]

Hi Kaylene,

Yes, you are allowed to practice nursing when on these meds. I know

a large amount of nurses who are actually on a lot more narcotic

medication, amphetamines for their Fibro, anti-anxiety meds, etc...

than I am, and most of them are RN's. When you apply for a job they

do a urine drug test and if you tell them of the meds that you're on

and have doctor's documentation, they don't hold anything against

you. I've never been turned away from a job in nursing b/c of my

meds. I always tell them in the interview that I'm going to test

positive for Opiates b/c of pain medication and it's okay with them

and is legal. They don't even bat an eye.

I have applied for any and all of the assistance I can get with the

utilities. I'm going to call the Dept. of Public Assistance to see

how they can help me and I'm going to try to work, even though I do

have an appt. with the Social Security office on March 19th to apply

for the disability. I've decided to not stay in the nursing

profession. Not that I don't feel capable regarding my intelligence

and not b/c I'm on medication. I just know that I can't continue to

do the heavy lifting and having to stand on your feet for 8-12 hours

at a time, etc... I'm handing over my badge! LOL... I'm going to

seek employment in something else like banking (not a a branch, but

maybe as a customer service representative, etc...), or anything else

that I think my body might be able to tolerate.

The issue of working while on heavy medication is a great one! I

replied to Janie's post about this. If they removed everyone on

narcotic pain meds or anti-anxiety meds from their jobs in the

medical field, we'd have a major crisis on our hands in this

country. It would be HUGE!

Thanks for all of your encouragement and suggestions! They're

greatly appreciated.

Kathy K.

[Guest guest]

Hi Daphne,

That's a wonderful idea! There are only two hospitals in my area.

The one I worked at most recently, and lost my position b/c of my

back and the lifting, did have a position open in their Utilization

Review dept. In the midst of my nursing career, I took a break and

was a manager in a large customer service center for a huge bank. I

was in management with them for 6 years. So, I had the experience

both on the medical end and also the office end. I did apply for

this job, but they refused to even interview me for the position.

The reason they gave to me was that " LPN " was in the job posting for

the U.R. job and my position as an LPN was taken away b/c of the

doctors not for me not to life more than 15lbs. It made no sence at

all to me! I told them, even though they should have known, that

the " LPN " job descriptions for what I did on the floor with patients,

and the U.R. office job were totally different. They were playing

very hard and would not even let me see the job description for the

U.R. position. I did call the Dept. of Labor, for that and other

things that this hospital was doing wrong to me and to others, just

to ask some questions, and the DOL told me that since this place is a

non profit hospital, they can do whatever they want. I'm not the

only person who had trouble with them. I'd gone out on STD for my

back for a period of 6 months and when I returned they seemed angry

at me. I don't get it!

I'll look in the classifieds or online to see if there are any

positions like this open.

Thanks for the tip!

Kathy K.

Daphne Fernandez wrote:

<snipped>

> In fact Utilization Review and Quality Assurance people are almost

> always nurses. There are Nurses in Charge of the ICD coding

> programs in all hospitals and so many different administrative

> programs in hospitals, nursing homes, and You could do these jobs

> with very little continuing education I am sure. Especially those

> areas where terminology is so very important.

[Guest guest]

Hi Daphne,

That's a wonderful idea! There are only two hospitals in my area.

The one I worked at most recently, and lost my position b/c of my

back and the lifting, did have a position open in their Utilization

Review dept. In the midst of my nursing career, I took a break and

was a manager in a large customer service center for a huge bank. I

was in management with them for 6 years. So, I had the experience

both on the medical end and also the office end. I did apply for

this job, but they refused to even interview me for the position.

The reason they gave to me was that " LPN " was in the job posting for

the U.R. job and my position as an LPN was taken away b/c of the

doctors not for me not to life more than 15lbs. It made no sence at

all to me! I told them, even though they should have known, that

the " LPN " job descriptions for what I did on the floor with patients,

and the U.R. office job were totally different. They were playing

very hard and would not even let me see the job description for the

U.R. position. I did call the Dept. of Labor, for that and other

things that this hospital was doing wrong to me and to others, just

to ask some questions, and the DOL told me that since this place is a

non profit hospital, they can do whatever they want. I'm not the

only person who had trouble with them. I'd gone out on STD for my

back for a period of 6 months and when I returned they seemed angry

at me. I don't get it!

I'll look in the classifieds or online to see if there are any

positions like this open.

Thanks for the tip!

Kathy K.

Daphne Fernandez wrote:

<snipped>

> In fact Utilization Review and Quality Assurance people are almost

> always nurses. There are Nurses in Charge of the ICD coding

> programs in all hospitals and so many different administrative

> programs in hospitals, nursing homes, and You could do these jobs

> with very little continuing education I am sure. Especially those

> areas where terminology is so very important.