Can I do 5 more years? | Arthritis Information

I'm really not sure after the last several days if I can make it in my profession another 5 years. The 12 hour shifts will for sure kill me. I worked 12 hours today and I can hardly move tonight. How do many of you make it on your jobs, especially those of you that have to be on your feet, most of it? I really need to be looking at my other options in this profession except I really do not want to orient to another area. I'm just too tired at this point. When do we decide that enough is enough?

A 12 hr shift is hard on a nonRAer let alone a RAer. And then to have to do it consecutive days. I have a friend, a nurse, no ailments, but mid-50s, and she works 12 hrs shifts and is pretty beat after 3 straight days of that. You might be able to push yourself 5 more years, but what physical shape will you be in? Can you consider a job with a shorter work day, like maybe a normal 8? Explore some possibilities, you never know . . . .

Lori, it's a good thing you're in a profeesion that has so many options. I guess only you can say when it's time to start thinking about moving on. It won't hurt to start looking to see what else is available so that when you make that decision you'll know which way to go.Lorster you'd be suprised how many opportunities there are without relocating. Many of the hospital, insurance company's "ask a nurse lines" are done remotely. My nurse case manager is from Florida and workd from home. The company is based in Virginia. Wellpoint is moving their nurse staff (one's involved in prescrition approval) to home based.

[QUOTE=buckeye]Lorster you'd be suprised how many opportunities there are without relocating. Many of the hospital, insurance company's "ask a nurse lines" are done remotely. My nurse case manager is from Florida and workd from home. The company is based in Virginia. Wellpoint is moving their nurse staff (one's involved in prescrition approval) to home based. lorster, I agree with Joie, that you might pay too high a price for pushing yourself another few years. Why not see what else is out there now?

My infusion nurse visits my home to run my IV and then sit and chat during my infusion (well ok, he also takes my vitals). He works a couple of weekdays and a couple of evenings (for the patients that need that), but he basically makes his own schedule. Probably the most strenuous part of his job is the driving, but most of his patients are within 20-30 minutes of his home. Perhaps there's a home infusion service near you that would have a position like this available? At least you'd be off your feet...I don't know how you do it.

I know you're exhausted and I know it's troubling to re-orient yourself at this point, but it is likely to be easier now than it will be 2-3 years from now. And you may be pleasantly surprised.

If your question about deciding when "enough is enough" is relating to disability, I'd say there's no easy answer. At some point, you feel like you've been pushing for so hard and so long and it's only getting worse. In the end I was having more days where it wasn't a question of whether or not I felt well enough to get to work and do my work, but it wasn't even a physical possibility. The day of a major customer visit I woke up and couldn't stand. I spent the day dragging myself the 3 feet between my desk at home and the bathroom across the hall. It was only a matter of weeks after that.

If you are considering disability, keep in mind that SSDI is based on your income, so if you downgrade to working part-time now or a significantly lesser-paying job, it may affect your benefit level later.

hi lorster my hat comes off to anybody struggling to work whith ra..
in my case the hospital stoped me.. i see you have just restarted plaquinil
and this will take time to work.. i wonderd if you had any holiday time
or sick time you coulduse while the med kicks in, and see how you feell

Boney
I'm surprised at what one can do if you are completely focused. Before I got sick, I averaged close to 60 hours a week between two jobs and as long as I had one day off in the week, it was manageable. I was at least Stage I with lymphoma although I did not know it. Thankfully I only was standing about 20 hours of that time.

Hi, Lorster.....so sorry to hear that things are hard right now. I really admire your tenacity to hang in there! I have a nursing friend who has RA....she just finished her Master's and found out that she had RA at the same time! She has two younger daughters, too. We share the same Rheumy...he advised her to stop working, or at least cut back to part time. But she has tried to hang in there too...she loves her job but it does wear her out. She considered quitting for a time. But she has found a good treatment and wants to keep working if she can.

What does your Rheumy advise?

I don't think I could do 12 hr shifts - with or without RA. We have summer hours at work - 9 hr days and one 4 hr day, and I don't even want to bother as it's a push to get 8 hrs in. I don't know how you do it - especially on your feet. If your goal is to continue to work for 5 yrs, you may just need to make an adjustment or you'll end up not being able to meet your goal. Better to start searching now when you still feel well.