The Student Room Group

Torn ACL and nursing degree

I tore my acl, mcl and meniscus in a skiing injury in January. My doctor pretty much told me surgery is the only option. I was originally told it would be 6 months wait for my surgery so it was supposed to be roughly around June/July time, however because of coronavirus it has been delayed even longer. I am supposed to be going to uni in September to do nursing and there are placements in nursing degrees which will involve walking and activities that I may not be able to do as it is likely I will be on crutches for at least 4 weeks and even after I am off of them I will have a limited range of motion compared to normal and will be in a leg brace for a considerable amount of time. We obviously currently do not have a timeline for how long this virus is going to affect daily lives so it could affect uni start time but I'm pretty sure my surgery is going to end up overlapping with uni to some extent. Im really unsure what to do because I would really like to avoid doing a gap year if I can, but placements are required and so if I was not able complete one I am not sure what would happen. Does anyone have any advice or know anything about what would happen x
Original post by oliviasibleyx
I tore my acl, mcl and meniscus in a skiing injury in January. My doctor pretty much told me surgery is the only option. I was originally told it would be 6 months wait for my surgery so it was supposed to be roughly around June/July time, however because of coronavirus it has been delayed even longer. I am supposed to be going to uni in September to do nursing and there are placements in nursing degrees which will involve walking and activities that I may not be able to do as it is likely I will be on crutches for at least 4 weeks and even after I am off of them I will have a limited range of motion compared to normal and will be in a leg brace for a considerable amount of time. We obviously currently do not have a timeline for how long this virus is going to affect daily lives so it could affect uni start time but I'm pretty sure my surgery is going to end up overlapping with uni to some extent. Im really unsure what to do because I would really like to avoid doing a gap year if I can, but placements are required and so if I was not able complete one I am not sure what would happen. Does anyone have any advice or know anything about what would happen x


You won't be able to go on placement with crutches or an impaired range of movement. You also need to bear in mind that your first few weeks of university are also very intense as the university is trying to teach you all the clinical skills you need prior to going out on placement - sessions on life support, basic care etc. which are usually done in simulation.You also need to consider what is best in terms of you healing and not putting too much strain on yourself. I think, realistically, you know it is unlikely you will be able to cope with placements. When on placement you're going to be on your feet for around 12 hours - not many placements have scope for you to sit for a while. This is hard on people with no injuries at all.

The best thing to do is discuss nearer the time with the university's occupational health department. They normally offer appointments at the beginning of the course but I think it would be a good idea to give them a call in July/August to discuss - hopefully we will have a better idea about the virus then and you may know a bit more about when your operation may be.
Have you heard back yet for your surgery. I'm in the same boat as you, just waiting.
Talk to the university ASAP, certainly before you turn up for your first day, both occupational health and the schools placement administration team will be able to provide advice about what is and isn't possible.

I was run over by a car on my way to lectures in my first year. I only suffered minor injuries (and since my afternoon lectures were in a lecture theatre only 100 meters from the exit to A&E I only missed half a day!) I was quickly seen by occupational health who cleared me to go on certain types of placement despite the fact I was on crutches initially with a full cast, and then subsequently in a walking boot cast. My next placement was with the crisis team of my local mental health trust where the only restriction was that I couldn't visit unstable, potentially violent clients, where there was a risk we'd have to run for it!

Universities often have a variety of options for clinical placement, many of which do not fall into the standard model of a ward based placement (which there's no chance you could do on crutches!) However these tend to be far, far less numerous than standard ward work, so the sooner you get an occupational health opinion, the sooner one of these "lighter duty" placements can be ringfenced for you.
Original post by Tranquility867
Have you heard back yet for your surgery. I'm in the same boat as you, just waiting.

No I haven't heard anything. I've had no communication from my hospital whatsoever so I honestly have no clue when I am going to get my surgery. Whats your situation then?
Exact same situation, I was supposed to have the surgery the week all elective surgeries got cancelled. I haven't heard anything since and am planning on going abroad for an internship so it's quite worrisome. Have you tried calling them, I may do that as I had to follow up for scans etc. Before.

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