Just an update on my back-to-work program.

I had my progress meeting for my back-to-work program  last Monday.

My hours are divided up between 2 hospitals. One where I'm going to actually be working, and another where I'm working in a research position in the medical records entering chart data into a computer.

There was initially some problem with my insurance company only allowing me to work a 0.8 (8 out of 10 days) combined between the 2 places, even though I wanted to do 2 more days at the research job. The research job is sedentary and nothing more than I do when I get home and sit at my own computer. So I was frustrated that they wouldn't let me pick up 2 more days because I so desperately need the hours by the end of December so that I can renew my nursing license for next year.

My union rep was there and she said that the union has no problem with my working additional hours at the other hospital. Their concern is that my hours at the hospital I will be working at do no exceed 0.8. They said that I should be able to work as many hours at the other place as I want to because it has nothing to do with my actual job! So now I'm 100% assured to get my required nursing hours in by the end of the year.

The manager of the ward I'm working on was in attendance. She said that the feed back from the nurses I've been buddied with and the charge nurses has been extremely positive about my attitude and work performance.

I'm already up to 1/2 a patient load for an assignment. You get between 5 and 7 patients and I've been caring for 3 each shift for the last 1.5 weeks and today I took care of 4 patients.  The hardest part for me is finding my organization again. Today I managed pretty well.  There is room for improvement though, but that could be because I feel so rushed only being there 4 hours and having to cram a full day of tasks into 1/2 a day.

At the meeting we talked about increasing my hours because I feel that I can do more than 4 hours 3 times per week. So my back-to-work schedule has been changed.

Now based on the new schedule I will be finishing my back-to-work program on December 2nd and returning to the payroll on December 3rd!  A full 2 to 4 weeks earlier than they had planned for.    I'll get my first actual pay cheque on December 12th for a whole 3 days of work, and a full pay cheque on December 26th!

I'm so chomping at the bit to get back to my job and out from under the thumb of the insurance company! It's the last step to actually getting my life back!

PS:  I've started 4 IV's and I got every single one!    That was one skill that I was afraid that I had lost my touch with. And the one that I was most anxious to have to do again.  But I'm so happy that I haven't lost my touch with IV insertion!

Oh, the manager was quite happy to learn that I am  a "Chemo Nurse" so I am also going to be sent for a 3 day refresher for chemotherapy. You have to be certified to give chemo and I used to be, but it's been several years since I last gave it.  The original course is 2 weeks in Cancer Care, so instead of taking someone off the ward for 2 weeks (we are very short staffed)  to train them, they are going to send me for a 3 day refresher after Christmas.

That is exciting news to hear.  I hope everything goes well from here on down and best of luck.  It really sound like things are actually taking off for you.  Again, good luck!

Thanks! For the last 4 years it has been one set back after another. I really felt like I had been cursed! I just couldn't catch a break with anything. Now everything seems to be falling into place.

Congrats Acadia.  Sometimes all you need is patients and time to get things done and a little hope and faith to keep you going in the meantime.

Good luck Acadia! It sounds like you're heading into an interesting and busy time - I hope you have a blast doing all that!

Acadia,  I know how it is with nursing... (my mum's a retired nurse). You just go out and do your thing but also remember to care about you first. Don't let the job define you. You define the job.

Happy to see a nurse return to the job so loved.

TS

Just updating!

16 more days until I'm back on the work payroll!!  

I'm going to talk to my claims specialist and see if we can bump that up by 2 days since I actually finish work on a Sunday and have 2 days off before I start my actual first shift on the payroll. However, with those 2 days I could pick up some shifts at work and have 5 days on my first pay cheque instead of only 3 days. I'd rather do that than have the insurance company pay me because I would get more from working than from the insurance payment.

It's been a tough few weeks. Things were going so well. I was virtually pain free and only going to the chiropractor once every 2 weeks for "maintenance."  Then the unthinkable happened. I was in a car accident. 

I was a passenger in the back seat. The driver stopped suddenly to avoid one accident that he was causing, only to be hit from behind. This caused me to fly forward and backward twice and gave me a pretty bad case of whiplash, not to mention totally messing up my back.  The injury may not have been as bad had the car had a seatbelt that I could use, but it was too short and there was no extension available, and then the driver was completely negligent after the accident. He didn't get the insurance information of the car that hit us from behind because there was no damage to either car, and he failed to report the accident to the company. Plus he was a maniac behind the wheel constantly stomping on the gas and slamming on the brakes and taking turns at full speed, causing me to be thrown around the backseat only adding to my injury.  By the time he dropped me off, it was nearly an hour later and I had a horrid headache, nausea, complete back pain and stabbing pain down my leg, plus both of my arms were numb from my neck to my finger tips. 

I got home and immediately took Ibuprofen and applied ice packs to my back and neck to help combat swelling and wrote a long letter to the car company and the company who contracts them.

Needless to say the car company is "pooping bricks" because the first they heard about the accident was from me, and I told them that if the accident in anyway causes me to not be able to complete my back to work program and return to my job in a timely manner so that I get the required number of nursing hours needed to renew my license for next year, and I have to take the refresher course and rewrite the exam, that I would be seeking compensation for not only the course, but also my living expenses while I'm attending the course, the exam fee, my licensing fee and any other expenses I have to incur to re-obtain my nursing license.  In addition to that, they stand a chance of having their contract with the City cancelled.

Our car insurance here is all "no fault", so there is no such thing as personal injury claims. However, according to my former boss who did a number of personal injury cases before the policy was changed,  said that because the company was negligent with the seatbelt, and the driver had complete and total disregard for the fact that I was injured and his driving after the fact was wreckless, not to mention failing to get the other cars insurance information, that the scope falls outside of autopac and woud fall under civil litigation. He also said that as a former Queen's Court Judge, that the company wouldn't stand a chance of winning if I were to take them to court just because of all of the variables involved.

Now I don't really want to have to go back to school for 2 years and I have no interest in suing anyone! So I've been working through the pain and loading up on over the counter pain medication (Robaxacet is a God-send) and going to the chiropractor. I've only missed 3-half days and that was hours at the research part of my back-to-work program, because sitting for extended periods really hurts my back.  But I've been managing pretty well on the ward.

As of November 30th, I'll have 375 hours towards my license, which is 7 hours more than I need in order to renew my license, so the hours I work in December when I'm back on the payroll are gravy so far as hours go.

The chiropractor visits have been helping immensely, and I'm still icing my back. With the Robaxacet I am still having some pain, but it's been manageable, but it will be weeks or even months before my back is back to the way it was before the accident.

My chiropractor told me that I have drive and determination. I told him that it's more like tunnel vision.   Getting back to my job is the only thing I see in front of me and nothing and no one is going to get in my way of getting back to my job.

What a turn of events!  Hope everything goes well and the best of luck.  At this point, you need all you can get.  Hang in there!

You should sue that driver and the company that hired him. He should have driven carefully (not like a little old lady but...) I agree with your former boss. SUE the pants off that blasted company for hiring that dangerous driver, then go after the driver for trying to impede your back-to-work program. There is no excuse for dangerous driving.

I'm just glad you're able to sit and type. Hang on in there like hborre said and keep on keeping on.

In the USA there would be lawyers lined up at your door to get that sort of case.  In an accident , if asked by the ambulance people if you are hurt, you say "I dont know , ask my lawyer"  and point to the back of the ambulance.  dial 1-800-we-can-get-you-money hehehehe .

Seriously , you should get a lawyer dealing in injury cases and threaten to sue.

good luck , hope things work out for you .
      

A couple minutes after the accident I had a  headache and felt like throwing up. Classic whiplash symptoms.

Twenty minutes after the accident I was feeling worse and my headache was massive. I asked the driver if he could contact the dispatcher and tell him about the accident and that I wasn't feeling well, and see if they could have someone else pick up his next passenger. He got all sarcastic telling me that he'll drop me off after he's picked up the other person. He then got on the radio and told the dispatcher that he was going to be late to pick up the other person, not once mentioning the accident.

I really have no interest in suing anyone. I just want to get back to my job.

I will talk to my old boss again though and ask what the time line is to file. I may have only a certain window to file a notice of intention, just in case the need does arise once I'm back to work and off disability and find that I can't manage my rotation due to back pain.