to accept a job thats morally questionable?

[jobdrama101]

A brief bit of background. Im a qualified nurse, i work in a very high pressure physical role, for 12 hours shifts. I LOVE my job, i love the pressure and the pace. However, i have some health issues, im off sick at the minute. Im awaiting some result and some further referrals. The health issue mainly affects mobility, otherwise physically i am fine, but the most likely result is going to be a condition that will affect my ability to do the job i love. Having discussed it with my manager, they have heavily implied returning if i get the diagnosis is going to be difficult, and i am in full agreement, as upsetting as this is. This job was my goal from childhood, im now mid 40's but only qualified 4 years ago, it took me a long time to achieve my dream.

Less physical nursing jobs do exist, however, the job market for nursing is, well, basically none existent. The best, most suitable for my health needs, earning enough money to support myself and my children, is a pip assessor role. But, everyone has read the negatives attached to this position.

I need a job though, not working is not an option. This is a hybrid role, that involves mostly work from home, around 5 days per month in a centre doing face to face assessments, which is more than manageable as even in person, there isnt a lot of walking around.

My thinking at the moment is its temporary, or could be, there are clinic based jobs, practice nursing, maybe even research, there are other positions, but there are none available for me to even apply for. I feel it is most sensible to just accept i cannot go back to the job i love, and rather than remain off sick indefinitely, do this job whilst looking for a suitable role.

Ive asked friends and family, and im getting mixed views. Some saying its a solid plan, others saying morally, they would never ever do this job.

^This. You should be offered redeployment this means you will get priority over any suitable jobs.If not get the RCN/Unison involved.
Speaking as a HCP I wouldn’t do it unless I really desperate for the money and I’d explored all redeployment options and there was nothing suitable.

Pip seems to divide opinion between being incredibly difficult to obtain or easy to fraudulently claim . Therefore anyone doing the job will have people forming negative opinions of them.
I would say take the job, you need to be earning but just be vague when people ask what your job is. Not because I think its morally questionable but simply because it easier than listening to everyone's negative comments.

I do think there are so many other jobs that you could do with reduced mobility rather than be a PIP assessor. Could you look as social prescribing ?

You’ll only be allowed to do certain PIP assessments anyway as a nurse so I would now worry too much about the moral aspects. For example some conditions nurses are not qualified to do PIP assessments for and only a Doctor is allowed to do. I know this because I had a nurse stop mine and tell me she wasn’t allowed to continue and a Doctor would call me.

Go for it with the aim of doing it properly: with fairness and compassion.

Are you thinking of ESA/ UC assessments ?

Just promise you’ll come back and do an AMA

Primary care nurse? Occupational health? Employee assistance Programmes? NHS 24 operator? Surely there must be jobs out there for a qualified nurse that are doable with impaired mobility. But if you can't find anything, get the Pip role, you might hate it but it's worth a try.

I agree with others it's only morally questionable if they try to twist your arm into denying claims when people need PIP. You're a qualified nurse who potentially has a career ending condition, you will have more compassion and qualifications than most. As long as you're fair it isn't immoral.

It's not as if you're selling weapons to Saudi Arabia or setting up fake PPE manufacturing businesses to defraud the taxpayer...

Hi Op
I really feel for you, it must be heartbreaking to know your whole world if changing. You should be so proud of yourself though. Making it to your dream job and sticking with it all - it sounds like alot!

I read somewhere that other people’s morals or opinions don’t pay your bills. I work in a questionable industry but I know that I am a good person, I try to better the industry I’m in and I put food on the table. What anyone else thinks is nothing to do with me.

Hopefully I never have to access PIP but if I did, I hope I had someone with knowledge, humanity and the skill set to make the right decisions x

Good luck!

Morals are fine as long as you can afford to have them😂

those saying they won’t do it - well they aren’t paying your bills are they

when they do pay your bills you can take there morals and feelings into account but until then they can fuck off

OP, I do this job and it’s a godsend. I didn’t have any health issues when I started it, but have developed one and I don’t think I could be clinical again. This job has upped my wages considerably, lets me WFH and has a lot of other benefit (mind the pun!) attached.

If you have any questions about the role, let me know!

I think it's very easy to say "I'd never do that job" when the ability to house and feed your children isn't a reality.

These are jobs that need doing and you need to be able to provide for your family. In all likelihood, if you turn this down and couldn't find work and ended up on benefits, people would be saying much worse about you (not that I would agree with it, you just know what people are like).

You do what you need to, to keep your family housed and fed x

Someone has to assess applications (someone assessed both my children’s DLA applications and my son might need PIP in thr future). It’s only morally questionable if you don’t do your job properly, just like many other jobs which become morally questionable if carried out without due care and attention (say, a careless magistrate who couldn’t be bothered to look at sentencing guidelines).

I thought you were going to say you were marketing vapes to kids or dreaming up ads to make women feel bad about their appearance so they bought cosmetics. There are real morally dubious jobs out there and a PIP assessor isn’t one of them!

when you said it was morally questionable I was expecting you were thinking of going into prostitution or something!! Being a PIP assessor isn't like that. But it might be a hard grind seeing people who may be miserable or may be trying it on. I've dealt with both sorts in a different sort of role where there are a lot of people who need or have PIP.

If you didn’t do that job how would you pay bills/rent etc?

I would take the job and if you don’t like it then keep an eye on other rolls.

Definitely go to occupational health via your line manager in your trust .....you should be eligible for redeployment ?

Thank you for the replies so far.

As far as redeployment goes, i have discussed this with my manager. However, at the minute its not possible as i dont have the firm diagnosis, and how long it will take to get that diagnosis is anyones guess. Its currently been 6 weeks i have been off work, and i have had some preliminary testing and referals, but others are involved and its not a quick process. So my option there is remaining off sick until i get a diagnosis and then asking for redeployment. She also said she believes i would have no choice over where i were redeployed to.

OH and 111, theres currently no availability in my area for roles. Same for primary care, other than community nursing, which is also pretty physical as i did community as a student for an extended placement block - those bilateral ulcer compression dressing are hard going at times! And i dont drive.

I dont want to lose my pin so any role i take needs to meet revalidation criteria too.

This seems to be the answer, but alongside the difficulty of the job in that i know genuine people get declined all the time, i also know the system for the job is difficult, and that the targets and demands on the assessors are tough, which is why there is a high turn over of staff. But short term, whilst i find something else, without having to sit on sick leave indefintely awaiting a diagnosis, and even if i dont get the expected diagnosis, i do have a condition heavily restricting my mobility, i just cant find another solution.

I do appreciate the views so fa though, thank you again

It’s not a morally questionable job. It’s a very sound one.

The issue is with how some people approach it. You can manage that bit for yourself.

Are you a union member if so get advice. Please don't jump to applying for a new role until you've gone through the trust redeployment process. You can turn something down, but they could well find something suitable.

Its the time frame that worries me, if they cant start this process until i get a diagnosis. Im also quite literally going out of my mind at home, i need to be doing something. I had a OH appointment and they stated im not fit for clinical duties, but i could do none - clinical. But that was then spoken about with teh department matron and they stated theres no none-clincial i could do, so i just have to be signed off pending diagnosis, which could be months and months away.

That's probably easy to say, but hard to do when there's a job that works for you in front of you now and nothing suitable seeming to be available in the trust.

What happens if the redeployment is completely unsuitable (locations wise etc) and this job is then gone, leaving OP with nothing but starting a job hunt in a rough market?

Sometimes, trusting your gut is better than trusting the system.

Could you instead look at moving into occupational health or working for a health charity helpline?

I don’t understand what is morally questionable. You assess people, those who genuinely need PiP get it, and those who don’t, don’t.

The only thing morally questionable would be the people making fake claims. But that is on them not you. If this job would work for you then go for it

I think by morally questionable i mean that its a blanket system that doesnt work for all applying. It has limitations when you are assessing a person based off pre-written guidelines. And some who should be entitled get rejected and vice versa. Its the strict guidelines rather than using clinical judgement to assess a patient as an individual from a nursing standpoint.