Auditory Processing Disorder and the nursing profession

anniebeefree · Aug 21, 2017

I just came across your post. Thank you for raising this question. I am just starting the RN program at my college, and I have CAPD. I, too, was diagnosed as a child. There wasn't much known about the disorder 30-some years ago when I was diagnosed.

When I went to college to become a nurse 22 years ago, I realized it would be near impossible for me to fulfill my dream of becoming a nurse because of my CAPD. Back then, most healthcare employers and universities weren't too keen on making reasonable accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act. Now, schools go out of their way to help their students under the ADA. Auditory Processing Disorders are considered a learning disability.

Here are two websites for you to read and consider. The first one is an article from Allnurses.com about "Keys to success for nursing students with disabilities". https://allnurses.com/general-nursing-student/keys-to-success-1003367.html

The other is a link to The "Association of Medical Professionals with Hearing Losses" | Association of Medical Professionals with Hearing Losses

I informed my program director of my disability. She was very understanding about it, addressed my concerns, and tactfully informed my other professors of it. I make sure I sit right in the middle, up front in the classroom. The professors now know to be conscious about facing the class when talking so that I can read their lips, in order to better understand what they're saying. It was reassuring to me to know that there is another student in the program, who is totally deaf, who will be graduating next spring with her BSN. This shows me that not only in the classroom, but in the clinical's as well, accommodations are being made for healthcare professionals with auditory disabilities.

Akina08, ASN, BSN, RN · Jul 24, 2020

I was diagnosed with CAP at the age of 6. My mother still remembers how she was told that I would probably do average in school and would not likely go to technical school or work at a job that wasn't high paying like a bank teller. (Yes, the people told my mom that about best working as a bank teller. No shame to bank tellers.) My mom said to those people that she (me) would decide what I am capable of. I had the benefit of having supportive teachers throughout my life. To make this even more challenging, I was also diagnosed with ADD at the age of 9.

During nursing school, I immediately got into contact with the disability services of my school and presented them with the documents of my IEP's throughout the school. I got time and a half for the exams. That helped tremendously because I was in a room that was either blocked off in the desks or I was by myself in the place taking the exam. Limiting distractions was vital. I would say the most significant thing regarding taking exams and finals is you need to focus on areas that you feel you are weak. You cannot absorb everything that is presented in the class. No one can. It's OK. I still even being a nurse for four years and currently in an MSN program to focus on the things I can control and not the things I can't.

I currently work part-time in a small community hospital in the ER and presently in an MSN program to become a Family Nurse Practitioner.