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.

I had the nicest most interesting nurse PIP assessor. He gave me loads of useful advice and tips, and I was awarded it straight away.
You sound exactly the type of person who should be doing the job- eventually. Get the advice of your union and ride out the sick leave process first

Children wind up neglected/abused with scars for life. If they're not beaten to death in the most extreme cases.
I do think it's a relevant comparaison.

I have two young adults with adhd and autism. They’ve had assessments for dla and pip and I’ve never found the assessors anything but kind and professional.

I genuinely think that the poor assessors are the exception rather than the norm. Go for it.

As soon as I read the title, I knew which job you meant. How to spot someone with experience of the system! Someone has to do the job. Ultimately it’s an administrative decision as to whether a person gets PIP. Yes, it’s based on the assessor’s report, but all you can do is be clear and truthful. The assessor we encountered was not very nice, certainly when it came to her interactions with us. I won’t go into detail because we’ve all heard the stories, but the hardest thing was receiving the report and seeing how she had told blatant lies. I don’t know if this was through lack of knowledge/inexperience or if she was just a cynical person who was internally eye rolling at everyone she encountered. The decision was changed significantly on mandatory reconsideration when we produced evidence of her inaccuracies. In all honesty, if the decision maker had bothered to compare her report with the information already provided, he/she would have spotted this right away. As I said, be clear and truthful in your report. And treat the person with dignity and kindness. You sound like a good person.

This is interesting! One of the most distressing aspects of the appointment I attended with a close family member, was the fact that the assessor was constantly tap tapping away and barely seemed to be listening in the moment. It made me very stressed and it wasn’t even my assessment! I think it’s a particular skill to be able to enter information and listen at the same time. I definitely couldn’t do it (and neither could the person who we encountered if her fabricated report was anything to go by!)

Are Social Workers under pressure to lie to deny these families help though or are they the ones fighting to get scarce resources allocated when they're clearly needed? It's not a job I would much like to do and it must be harrowing but the key for me is whether or not you're expected to act dishonestly to ensure people don't get the help they very clearly need. If that is the case then yes, I would say working in that area of social work would not be a good use of time or skills and would ultimately be likely to do harm.