Disabled RN Let Go

[HemaStat]

In January of 2000 through a comedy( i have to keep my sense of humor here) of errors at a local hospital i ended up on a vent for 3 weeks. 4 weeks after being extubated i lost my airway, now after a tracheostomy and many laser surgeries I am still 100% occluded just superior to my Shiley Trach. I could have a radical resection with pull-up but the MD says with high scarring factor and being a diabetic he puts my chance of recovery at less than 70%.

With that i decieded i wished to return to work in some form. I work for one the the top 10 hospital in the US. I was told at this time that there was no room in any hospital for an RN that could not speak, much less one with a trach. Now i know perhaps working with patients would not be a good idea i know there are many RN duties i could do. However the chance to prove myself will not be allowed. Countless letter and emails have been ignored, my Leave of Absense that was to be for a year was canceled at 6 months as i was "no longer viable as an RN"

Guess i am just looking for the opinions of my peers. I am highly trained with a BSN with special training in Head and Neck( ahh the irony of that)and BS in Computer Science. Please give me your honest opinions. Would you work with/hire an RN that cannot speak. BTW i have trained my laptop and desktop computers to "talk" for me. Thanks for you time.

[cmggriff]

Disturbing to say the least. I have worked with a number of handicapped or "challenged" people over the years. You know there are a number of laws covering this kind of employer behavior. See an attorney. I think you have worked at one of th bottom 10 hospitals.

[mustangsheba]

Wow! Talk about lack of vision (nevermind compassion). You would bring a very special skill and empathy to the head and neck area in which you already have great experience. What a waste. Maybe you could work as a consultant for several facilities as ostomy nurses sometimes do. I would think you would be in great demand for teaching new trach patients and other nurses. Good luck.