I am 50 yrs. old. and have not worked since June 2004. I placed my license(practical nurse) on inactive status last year. I have been on LTD and SSDI. I am reviewed anually for the LTD.
I have sarcoidosis, a chronic illness that has periods of exacerbations and remissions. I am currently stable on my meds. I have managed to stay out of the hospital for over 16 months now. I fought going on disability for as long as I could for financial reasons. But starting 8/03 my illness was starting to exacerbate. I went on STD. I returned to work 2/04 on PT basis, but I ended up leaving 6/04 for health issues. I've had several periods of hospitalizations during that period. Since September, I have been contemplating on returning to work. Financially, I NEED to return to work. I was the higher wage earner. And, it really hurt us when I had to go on disability.
I mentioned to my dr. that I would like to return to work. And, she suggested that maybe I could get a job in a specialist drs. office or Home Health. She just suggested something low key.
My last job was in a psych hospital. For awhile there, I worked way too many hrs. I was working 3 dbls. a week. I think that may have led to exacerbation of my illness. Even though, I returned on a PT basis, I don't think that I was quite ready to return to work at that time. I have been contemplating on checking out about returning there. My husband does not want me to. But, I told him, if I stuck to PT, I should be okay.
I am really unsure about what I am doing. I went to local OVR the other day, and have an application to receive vocational counseling services. One of the questions on the application were, "Why can't you return to this job?" That made me think, maybe, I can return there. As long, as I only worked PT hours. I think in the past, I just worked myself into exhaustion.
I am very limited as to what I can do in nursing. I did not become an LPN until the age of 40. And, my background is mainly behavioral health. I have experience working in a drug rehab and psych hospital. I worked in a nursing home, right after graduation, but I only worked there about 2 months PT. It was too physcially demanding for me. So, I do not have much experience, except for behavioral health. The only jobs for LPN's for me locally are in nursing homes.
Does anyone have any suggestions for me? I would like to stay in the nursing field.
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