Get Back On Your Feet!: What Every Injured and Ill Person Needs to Know

Deborah L Ribis, RN CNCLP
Women in Print (2006)
ISBN 0974610917
Reviewed by Paige Lovitt for Reader Views 1/07)

The author, Deborah Ribis, has had extensive experience in a variety of areas working with people who have become disabled. She describes herself as “a nurse of 22 years who has worked in the system, survived through the system, and assisted others in the system.” She has experienced two serious disabling conditions. She writes this book in a comprehensive outline form to help you go through the process step-by-step. By learning how to advocate for yourself, you can greatly increase your opportunity for success in dealing with the system. This is not a “How to Scam the System” kind of book. She legitimately addresses issues that persons who become disabled have to deal with. People who are either injured on or off the job will benefit from the information provided here.

Included in the wealth of information presented is: definitions of terms; descriptions of the roles of people involved; interesting cases; and each chapter is concluded with “Things to Remember” summaries and “Questions You Need to Ask.” In the back of the book are worksheets and a communications log to help organize information. Ribis also includes a list of references and resources.

The author’s own personal experiences in dealing with the system took her from being a passive patient to becoming an advocate for oneself. I experienced the same situation myself with an on-the-job injury when I was in my early twenties. I was injured while working at a hospital. Having been a loyal employee for four years, I expected different treatment then what I got. Reading “Get Back on Your Feet” taught me that many of my negative experiences in dealing with my injury are very common.

“The System” knows how to deal with injured employees. They know how to emotionally make a person try to back down from claims of injury. They know how to try to work around doctors orders for “Light Duty,” etc. The employee that has been injured doesn’t have the resources to know how to work through the mire that will be thrown at them. Or at least they didn’t until this book was published. I wish I had this information back then. I would have been able to better advocate for myself. I ended up hiring an attorney to advocate for me, which was expensive.

I highly recommend this book to people who are recovering from injuries that will affect their employment. They need to get their hands on this resource as quickly as possible. I also recommend this book to people working with those that have become disabled because the information in here is invaluable. I am going to use “Get Back on Your Feet” as a resource for helping teach my disabled students how to self-advocate. I look forward to using the knowledge that I have gained from this great book.

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