Question for all the LPN & RN's

1. Did you ever know anyone that was an amputee or had a physical disability growing up? How did that affect you as a nurse or in your practice? and can you give me any examples of how it was incorporated into your learning as a nurse?

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2. 6 Comments

   Comment
3. 
   Jan 24, '13

   Homework? Is this supposed to a survey of nurses in practice or personal experience? What is your assignment? We are happy to help but we won't complete your assignment for you. But yes, I had encountered individuals with disabilities, including family members, while growing up.
4. 
   Jan 24, '13

   Welcome to AN! The largest online nursing community!
   
   Like Beachy says we are happy to help with homework.....but we need to have input from you first.....you start the dialogue and we will jump in!
5. 
   Jan 24, '13

   Hi all.. Thanks for the warm welcome.. I am just doing a survey on how or if a person with a disability in your life inspired you to be a nurse. How did you incorporate it,other than your attitude toward people with a disability, into your practise as a nurse? How is it different? And the obvious showing compassion toward people with a disability .... I would live to hear from anyone
   
   Thanks!
6. 
   Jan 26, '13

   It didn't have much to do with me deciding to pursue nursing but I dated a mostly deaf guy with hearing aids for a bit. Though he definitely struggled to hear enough in some situations, he spoke three languages fluently and a few more passably. Knowing him made a good case for using the term "differently abled" rather than "disabled." After all, he learned languages better --by ear-- than most normal people. See people by their talents, not their flaws.

   Last edit by tigerlogic on Jan 26, '13 : Reason: Stupid iphone
7. 
   Jan 26, '13

   i grew up with a deaf cousin..he was my best friend growing up...i learned sign language along with him.
   in school i was always friendly and compasionate toward MR individuals and the learning disabilty while others made fun of them...i stopped them....my husband has a brain injured sister and i love her to death....in the early 80s i received my AAS degree in early childhood minoring in special education for the preschoolers....many years later while i was in my 40s i became a LPN,now I am in my 2nd semester of RN school.....did all this help me decide to be a nurse?..perhaps yes,perhaps no. i just knew i always wanted to be one,my kids are grown and now it is my chance. i think growing up the way i did certainly helps me to be a more compasionate nurse...oh and did i mention...i work with medically frail MR and TBI individuals now...some are very contracted and distorted,but all i see is an individual,not their physical disabilities.....I am going through my psych rotation now and LOVE it!!!....a whole other ball of wax compared to what i am use to,but so very interesting!!
8. 
   Jan 28, '13

   I didn't know anyone who'd had an amputation growing up, but was around illness my entire life.
   
   My grandmother had a severe stroke secondary to a ruptured aneurysm about 5 years before I was born when she was 56 years old. She was severely debilitated, wheelchair bound, G-tube fed, in and out of nursing homes until she died when I was 11, etc. My cousin was born with an imperforate anus and I saw my first colostomy when I was seven years old. Whether or not this led me to nursing, I don't know... maybe subconsciously it did.

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