Deaf and HoH Pre-Nursing Students

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Hello all,

I'm currently working on my pre-reqs and I have a strong interest in nursing. My question is, I am concerned about my hard of hearing and I understand that in nursing school, the use of stethoscopes is required for doing BP and heart reading/listening.

I have a cochlear implant (a BAHA hearing aid) and was wondering if nursing schools can accommodate in a situation such as this. I haven't come across any deaf/HoH students who are nursing students. I can do a BP over palpatory reading but will this hinder me from passing nursing school?

I feel as though my ability to use a stethoscope is limited and I know there are tools to assist RNs who are deaf/HoH on the job already but as far as nursing school goes, I am not sure if its allowed. I wanted to make an informed decision about my future career and not be set up for failure.

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Specializes in Emergency Room, CEN, TCRN.

Use of a stethoscope is needed to accurately conduct physical assessments, such as cardiac, lung, and bowel sounds. I know they make some pretty pricey electronic stethoscopes that can help people that are hoh auscultate BP and sounds for assessments.

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Specializes in Neuro.

It would probably benefit you to make an appointment to speak with a school nursing advisor, faculty or a nursing admin.

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I just graduated from nursing school and I have a BAHA. Have you used a stethoscope before? When using my stethoscope I would just turn the BAHA off, then turn it back on when I was done. I would definitely suggest getting a good, quality stethoscope. During school I used a Littmann Cardiology III that I loved and it worked well for me. I would sometimes have to really focus on whatever I was trying to hear and/or spend more time listening, but I think part of that is also just being a student and not being used to these sounds.

You can also talk to the Disability Resource Center at your school if there are any accommodations they can assist with. I didn't register with the DRC but I did let my clinical and lab instructors know what my BAHA was just because most people are unfamiliar with it.

I wish you the best! Believe in yourself! You can do it!

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