what I did
Back in the day back injuries/surgeries were the kiss of death for an RN so at first I admitted to having back probs. No jobs. But I was then away from work for over a year and thankfully I did start a Masters program in nursing so when I applied for a part time job while in starting my MSN program I explained the time away from work with "study" and I had chosen to work with preemie infants as it would be "light weight work" literally and didn't mention my spine stuff at all. I had not yet had a spine surgery or wasn't on any meds way back then.
After 1st spine surgery there was no way not to admit to it so I did and yet could bend over and touch toes for physical so passed and also during the physical and questioning I just said my back hadn't bothered me since surgery of course I had actually had 2 spine surgeries by this time and the latter one failing and my pain was much worse however I didn't actually have a scar because the 2nd surgery was "percutaneous" or band aid surgery so really the only scar that could be seen was one and it had been well healed.
I did say I wasn't able to sit long or do heavy lifting so I was seeking part time work and that's why at that point I went into a different type of nursing that didn't involve seeing patients at all (telephone triage/advice nurse) so I wasn't lying I just was careful what I said.
Re meds.. I have not worked while on pain medications. I wonder in your field if there is any kind of work with machinery that would preclude the use of medication (do not operate heavy machinery) or precision work for which the label on types of pain medication (may cause drowsiness) might be cause for an employer to be concerned. As I understand if you have a prescription for a medication even if it's an opioid medication and you list it that's not the same as if you were caught lying about your "drug habit" with drug testing.
Then again would the employer hire someone that isn't taking the medication who had the same qualifications and education/experience ... perhaps.. perhaps you'd be the one hired.
I was told that there are many nurses working on pain meds but I don't know whether they already had their positions or were hired after the fact.
Hope some people here will be able to help you out with their answers on this one.
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