Hearing impaired RN wants to work but------

Specialties Disabilities

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I am an RN with more than 20yrs high risk L&D exp. After a 5yr illness that left me deaf in one ear, and with only 70% in the other ear. I'm wondering if it is realistic to think I can return to nursing with impaired hearing. Does anyone have any suggestions as to maybe an area that would be better suited to a nurse with this dissability. I would love to return to work. Thanks for any advice.

In the OR, the only person who uses a stethescope is the anesthesiologist. I have never had to be faced with the possibility of having to use on. Pre op and recovery use them. Good luck to you.

Thanks for your response.

How about the difficulty of hearing with conversation with the mask? I am sure everyone is wearing mask in this area.With the hearing aid in place,is there any difficulty? Thanks for any input.I really appreciated all the informations I got here.It erases my doubt of my capability to realize my dream in this nursing field despite my impairment.

I'm mild to moderately HOH but can function without my monaural aid, which is a good thing since I lost it a few weeks ago and am waiting for the replacement to comeine.

Until I got it I didn't realize how much compensating I did. It took me a few days to be able to function well again s it.

Hi everybody! I am new to All nurses after being referred here from a fellow nursing student to hopefully get some insight to a problem I am having. I am in my fourth semester of nursing school. Like most of you posting, I am hearing impaired. I have bilateral cochlear implants. Because of this I am not able to use a regular stethoscope and I have gotten through the program by using a stethoscope that hooks up to a PDA which graphs the sounds coming through. I then visualize the heart and lung sounds and have become quite good at deciphering the different sounds. Those of you that have prior hearing would probably have a much easier time than I did in learning to distinguish the different sounds with your eyes. The new problem that I am facing is using the telephone. I am aware that there are many avenues to nursing that do not require the use of the telephone but I am really set on working with patients on a hospital unit. I am able to use my cell phone to talk to friends and family and my instructor but unable to use a landline as it is analog, I do much better with digital service. The problem in the hospital is that my cell phone is not in line with the intercommunication system, as well as overwhelming background noise and Dr's with little patience. In the past I have used a relay service with VCO (voice carry over) which allows me to speak directly to the other person and when they respond an operator would type it to me. I am at a loss with finding any products that are mobile and allow the user intercommunication features. So my question is have any of you ever had a similar experience? I am fully functional in communication in person just lack the telephone ability..... Any suggestions?

Specializes in ER, ICU, Tele, Geri Psych.

ok, this is to address canoehead, llg, and marvie.....

1. Canoehead question was a legit one, and apparently you missed the smiley face at the end of his question.

2. llg, maybe you should get your feelings off of your sleeve. Refer to #1.

3. marvie, thanks for answering. But you too should not take it as a slight, if you were a perfectly hearing individual who came across the same situation, you would wonder yourself...but maybe to scared to ask.

I am a completely deaf RN and have only been deaf for 4.5 yrs. I went on disability initially after losing my hearing, but decided this past fall to return to nursing. I do have an Auditory Brainstem Implant and use a e-scope to ausciltate lung sounds/heart tones. I was just recently rehired back into my local hospital's ER, since that is where the majority of my experience is from. To be honest, when using some of the stories on here to convince my ER manager that it could be done, I referred to marvies story and wondered how that could be accomplished with the mask issue.

So, everybody simmer down and just answer the question. We that are hoh/deaf choose to let these types of comments be bothersome, I choose to use it as a teaching point.

Specializes in OR.

Your comments leave us who ARE deaf or HOH wondering.... what exactly is your point? And what teaching point are you referring to? I am not a 'perfectly hearing person' if you read my earlier posts. Masks cover the face and since everyone's hearing loss is different ( some feel vibrations, others don't. etc...) but in truth, a person's eyes and body language speak volumes, even if they are not aware of it. The mask issue has been asked of me so many times that I am wondering why the fascination? If an RN does their job, knows their job, anticipates possible needs for a particular situation and knows what to do in the event of things not going smoothly, and pays attention, always keeping patient safety first- then even a barrier like a mask isn't really an issue. If you go back to my earlier posts, you will see that I only give encouragement for anyone with a hearing limitation who have chosen to violate the hearing world's expectations of those who are not 'perfectly hearing', especially those who work in areas that other's deem impossible for deaf/hoh. More power to ALL nurses deaf/hoh or "perfectly" hearing for being Nurses.

ok, this is to address canoehead, llg, and marvie.....

1. Canoehead question was a legit one, and apparently you missed the smiley face at the end of his question.

2. llg, maybe you should get your feelings off of your sleeve. Refer to #1.

3. marvie, thanks for answering. But you too should not take it as a slight, if you were a perfectly hearing individual who came across the same situation, you would wonder yourself...but maybe to scared to ask.

I am a completely deaf RN and have only been deaf for 4.5 yrs. I went on disability initially after losing my hearing, but decided this past fall to return to nursing. I do have an Auditory Brainstem Implant and use a e-scope to ausciltate lung sounds/heart tones. I was just recently rehired back into my local hospital's ER, since that is where the majority of my experience is from. To be honest, when using some of the stories on here to convince my ER manager that it could be done, I referred to marvies story and wondered how that could be accomplished with the mask issue.

So, everybody simmer down and just answer the question. We that are hoh/deaf choose to let these types of comments be bothersome, I choose to use it as a teaching point.

Specializes in ER, ICU, Tele, Geri Psych.

My point is, it was a legitimate question. Nothing more, nothing less. Why you or any other HOH person gets ***** is beyond me. I deal with the same issues you do, but to a degree more. I don't get ***** if someone asks me how I accomplish something. Why do you have to or anyone else for that matter.

It is answers like yours and llg's that can cause the divide already between us and the "hearing world" to widen. Just calmly answer the question. Is that really hard?

I never said or infered you were a perfectly hearing person, just that those who are, would probably wonder the same thing the original poster of the question did? I have read your previous posts, and if you had read my rebuttal, you would have notice or acknowledge that I used your personal story to prove barriers can be broke down.

I have dealt with narrow minded thinking individuals in my quest for re-introduction into my nursing career. So, how far do you think I would have gotten if I responded like you or llg to a similar question of theirs?

Specializes in OR.

Probably as far as you are getting with me with your comments that indicate frustration and slight hostility....NOT VERY FAR.

My point is, it was a legitimate question. Nothing more, nothing less. Why you or any other HOH person gets ***** is beyond me. I deal with the same issues you do, but to a degree more. I don't get ***** if someone asks me how I accomplish something. Why do you have to or anyone else for that matter.

It is answers like yours and llg's that can cause the divide already between us and the "hearing world" to widen. Just calmly answer the question. Is that really hard?

I never said or infered you were a perfectly hearing person, just that those who are, would probably wonder the same thing the original poster of the question did? I have read your previous posts, and if you had read my rebuttal, you would have notice or acknowledge that I used your personal story to prove barriers can be broke down.

I have dealt with narrow minded thinking individuals in my quest for re-introduction into my nursing career. So, how far do you think I would have gotten if I responded like you or llg to a similar question of theirs?

Specializes in ER, ICU, Tele, Geri Psych.

agreed, good luck.

In following the obvious argument that is going on I have to throw my own two cents in here. All too often HOH or deaf people tend to get the impression that they have to prove something to everyone else and take it personal when a question is asked out of awe. Something we have to remember is that not everyone who asks you these questions has the capacity to understand what it is like, hence the questioning. I take it as flattery, that what I do impresses someone enough that they wonder how I manage. How can that ever become bothersome? The mistake that seems to be made is the assumption that you are being looked down upon. Truth be told we do have a disability you know. Why do you think there is so much media coverage on people like the single mother who has no arms? How many times do you think she is asked how she does it. Hearing is a thing people tend to take for granted, they dont know the tricks we do, they havent had to learns them, so it truly does become an amazment to them, the way you can compensate your hearing in an operating room situation. Sometimes the question is simply dumbfound curiousity, nothing to take personal....

Specializes in OR.

While I appreciate the time you took to respond, I will say this....The writer who called several people ***** about answering questions was obviously looking to vent and does not seem to grasp the concept that some people do not like being called ***** when they never were.

In following the obvious argument that is going on I have to throw my own two cents in here. All too often HOH or deaf people tend to get the impression that they have to prove something to everyone else and take it personal when a question is asked out of awe. Something we have to remember is that not everyone who asks you these questions has the capacity to understand what it is like, hence the questioning. I take it as flattery, that what I do impresses someone enough that they wonder how I manage. How can that ever become bothersome? The mistake that seems to be made is the assumption that you are being looked down upon. Truth be told we do have a disability you know. Why do you think there is so much media coverage on people like the single mother who has no arms? How many times do you think she is asked how she does it. Hearing is a thing people tend to take for granted, they dont know the tricks we do, they havent had to learns them, so it truly does become an amazment to them, the way you can compensate your hearing in an operating room situation. Sometimes the question is simply dumbfound curiousity, nothing to take personal....
Specializes in ER, ICU, Tele, Geri Psych.

do I need to "quote" how you and llg responded to the question? both of you took offense and by taking offense, it came off as p.issy. How would you describe your response? and "p.issy" was the word I used in my original response, nothing harsher than that.

Hi,

I have been reading this thread- I am severely hearing impaired and wear bilat bte digital aids. I am going in to my second year of nursing to be an RN. The question of hearing when people are wearing masks is a fair question and one that I ask myself- because I don't know yet what my limitations will be when I graduate.

I was excited to see the question asked- hoping for some good responses that would suggest I might actually be allowed to work in a med-surg unit- or work in the ED- because I assumed those two places would be off limits to me.

I do take my aids out to use my steth with pts in clinicals, but I would be concerned about needing to use my steth in a hurry and the seconds it takes to remove them- and also the risk of losing them- and also not being able to hear instructions while the aids are out. I would think I would need a lot of experience to be able to rely on body language and such in the medical setting- this being the only good suggestion I have read through this thread after the question of masks was made. (unless I missed something).

I do have a second scope with cables but haven't been to the audiologist to have my aids adjusted for the tones for it.

I also am fearful of the telephones in the facilities because of the hearing difficulties, and when I have had to answer a call, I become very frustrated, as a pt shouldn't have to repeat themselves and I am embarrassed to have to tell a co-worked I can't understand what they are saying.

I would like to see the feuding end and maybe have some real answers to these issues- I was not at ALL offended by the question of the masks- and ask the same question myself.

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