The Role of Psychosocial Factors in Recoverỹ wo women, Ms. N and Ms. E, are employed by the same local hospital. but work in different departments. The women file claims 3 days apart. Both are diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome in their dominant hand and are operated on by the same surgeon at the same surgery center within several weeks of one another, and both receive the same standardized preoperative and postoperative course of treatment. The perioperative process for both is described below. CASE 1 Ms. N is a 48 year old right hand dominant licensed vocational nurse with a 1 year history of bilateral numbness, tingling, nighttime awakening with the need to "shake my hand out," and complaints of reduced sensation in her right thumb and index and middle fingers. She stated she did not present for treatment earlier because "I had a lot of work to do and I chose to ignore it." Her job duties include frequent typing, data entry, and administration