September 28 2006 at 8:49 AM No score for this post
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hello to all, i am a 59 yr old r.n. with 31 yr's of experience...the hospital i'm currently with hired me in 1997, knowing that i was not supposed to lift, push or pull anything heavier that 10 lb's.i've worked many of the unit's since then including the e.r., & never had a problem with my limitation's, other staff on the unit alway's willing to help out...i took a posistion on 05/22 as a pacu float, being unaware that when i rotated to radiology, i would be required to wear a 25 lb lead apron.....when i told my anm that i could not do this, his response was, if you can't wear the lead, you can't have the posistion....there was a mtg with h.r. on 07/06, i was told to take an early retirement, or apply for permanent disability, & that i could not have a job with this facility anymore, there were no r.n. posistion's that i could have......since then the union has been involved & my attorney, my attorney states i will win this one hand's down, but this could take up to one yr to settle...i have been recieving unemployment benefits, but have no idea which way to go from here,do i stay in nsg, or look for another career..i am completely beaten up @ this point, confused, & depressed...any suggestion's wold be appreciated....roe
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Roe-
Don't give up!
I think big business is starting to weed out the older workers so they don't have to pay worker's comp and bother themselves with reasonable accomadation. It seems management will create a situation that an older worker can't do and then banish them to "retirement" or "disability" or, as in your case, create an arbitrary and capricious requirement to conflict with your known, pre-existing, condition. I am starting to see similar tactics at my workplace (not nursing or medical related).
Have you thought about medical transcription? Have you thought about reading charts for a physicians billing service? Perhaps a unit secretary position would work. Contact local nursing agencies to inquire about "sitting" positions or other light duty positions they may have available. Apply with your state government employment agency for any state jobs of an administrative nature. Although not appropriate at this very moment because of the pending litigation, you might send resumes to all the local hospitals stating your experience and desire to be considered for any administrative positons. I would caution you not to lose your unemployment benefits to a job that pays less.
Scan your telephone book yellow pages for such opportunities. You also might go to your favorite search engine and type in:
(name of your state) physicians billing service
Be creative with your search engine.....it could uncover numerous opportunities in your area.
It's truly said that a hospital, that should be the stanchion of compassion and understanding would treat an older, and clearly devoted, person such as yourself in this manner. If I recall correctly, our country's president recently issued a mandate saying that age discrimination should not occur. The problem is we all know that big business runs this country and the government.
I wish you the best and pray that you and your attorney rip them a new one, per se.
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Scan the classified ads of your local newspaper for nursing/medical employment opportunities.
Scan periodicals such as "Nursing2006" or, perhaps, your state has a periodic "newspaper" circulated that is dedicated to nursing and nurses. Our state has such a publication but I can't find one right at this moment.
Also, talk to friends. There must be many former co-workers, who are aware of what has happened to you, that might have suggestions.
Good luck.
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