[USSIE]

Hi,
I haven't been around for a long time.
a few years ago I became SCI, L4-S1 with perment Cauda Equina injury, and had to quit school just before starting my clinicals.
I have though about returning to school but I'm really not sure what the point would be if I can find work being wheelchair dependant.
Is there any RN's, BSN's, or students out there who are also SCI and actively working or attending school?
How hard was it getting employment or accepted into clinicals?

[purplemania]

The physical requirements will be a challenge. I do not see how you could get through clinical rotations in a wheelchair. That said, there are plenty of other jobs as a nurse. Education, case managements, utilization review, phone triage --- probably many others. But you have to get the license first.

[biker nurse]

there was article one of my instructors read to us about a year ago about a student nurse who was blind so anything is possible.

[MBA2BRN]

I really would like the answer to this too. A few friends (classmates) and I were talking about this last semester and we came to the conclusion that someone in a wheelchair probably would not be able to become a nurse through our program. We concluded that Registered Nurses in wheelchairs probably were nurses before being in his/her present condition.

We suspect (of course we do not really know) this because of the PHYSICAL demands of nursing school. We also suspect this because we know of students who were asked to leave our nursing program for a semester until he/she was cleared by a doctor to perform the duties of a nursing student. The students in question broke a bone in his/her hand, leg, or foot and were out a semester or a year!

In fact, in order to be cleared to work the floors at my hospital you have to pass a physical that has NO limitations. This requirement applies to Student Nurses as well. So how does one in a wheelchair get through clinical if people who normally have no limitations are not able to do so with a broken bone?

During clinicals we have to turn patients, lift patients, move equipment, run fast around the setting etc.. So broken bones can keep one out a semester or even a year to provide safety to patients (the patient's safety is number 1 priority. If we cannot provide the best care possible, the patient is put in danger).

My friends and I are not Administrators (yet) or even Nurses (yet) so of course we have NO IDEA if we are correct in our assumptions. Therefore, please contact a program or a counselor to see if you will be prevented from attending due to the fact that you are not able to complete the physical requirements without limitations.

By the way, if you are told that you cannot get into any program, do not despair. If you have your heart dead set on becoming a nurse because you wish to help people, then try something else! Nurses do not hold a monopoly on the market on caring for people.

MSWs (Masters in Social Work) for example do not have physical requirements to get through school or to do most jobs. You could flourish as a counselor, case manager, intake clinician, utilization review personal etc.... without becoming a Registered Nurse. I also know that Registered Dietitians, Lactation Consultants, and other support staff that does not have the physical requirements of a Student Nurse. Maybe you can try researching those careers too?? GL.

[Lisa CCU RN]

What is SCI?

[USSIE]

Spinal Cord Injured......

[VivaRN]

Yes, it can be done. There was a student who graduated from my nursing school who used a wheelchair and had use of only one arm. They did an article about her in the local paper. There was a picture of her in the hospital at a pt's bedside, hanging a piggyback. Apparently everyone was very creative in finding ways to make it work. I don't know all the details as she graduated before I came along. Seems like you could do it if you had support through school, and found the right work environment.

[HealthyRN]

Students with disabilities must be accommodated. It would be considered discrimination if you were not admitted to the program based on your SCI. You may not be able to do the lifting/turning and more physical aspects of nursing, but there is much more to nursing than this. As another poster stated, it would take a supportive school environment, but I know that it has been done. I encourage you to follow your dreams.