Do all nurses need 20/20 vision?

Software that reads or magnifies the computer screen, lightweight portable magnifiers, electronic note takers, small hand-held recorders, special reading glasses, talking thermometers, scales and blood pressure monitors and Braille, talking or smartwatches are helping nurses with vision loss continue to practice.

Workplace accommodations are also helping nursing with vision loss. Adjustments to lighting, job sharing, and trading tasks with willing co-workers, moving into teaching or patient education are examples.

Nurses with vision loss are working in a wide range of areas from administration to education, telephone triage, labor & delivery, senior daycare, intensive care, and program services. Some have become entrepreneurs.

Leora Heifetz works as a registered nurse on a labor and delivery unit in a level three hospital in the Chicago Metropolitan area. She uses intense lighting to start IVs and reports, "when drawing up a medication, I hold the bottle and syringe close enough so that I can see. If I am ever unsure, I do not hesitate to ask a coworker for assistance or to double-check my work" (American Foundation for the Blind).

Detra Bannister, RN worked as a surgical, community and school nurse. She is now employed as a Career Connect employment specialist for the American Foundation for the Blind. In her role, she works with nurses and others with vision loss. The Career Connect program provides articles, mentors, career guidance and job seeking skills.

Barbara Sainitzer, RN progressively lost vision due to macular degeneration. She went on to get a master's degree in nursing and was later appointed to the governor of the state of Washington's Committee on Disability Issues and Employment. She also volunteers for the Washington Council of the Blind and serves on the environmental access committee. Barbara states, although people with vision loss many not be able to "see" the details of a perfect sunset, they do have "vision" and can continue to serve and contribute to society (Sainitzer, 2014 p.108).

Susan Nordemo, RN has vision loss from a congenital condition called coloboma. She had good corrected vision until she was diagnosed with cataracts as a result of 30 years of smoking. Her vision dramatically changed for the worse. Susan moved forward and worked with her state department of low vision. They provided her with a job coach, a zoom text program for her computer and large labels for her keyboard. Soon after, Susan landed a job as a nurse doing telephone triage. In addition, she continues to maintain her business "Monarch Health Coaching" providing hypnosis, Reiki and Emotional Freedom Technique (Nordemo, 2014).

Mary Tozzo, RN lost vision due to retinitis pigmentosis. She works as a clinical nurse educator and teaches orientation and continuing education classes. In addition, she is the designated certified diabetes educator and provides both inpatient and outpatient diabetes education (Tozzo, 2006).

Buttrell (2007) conducted a study of nurses who are blind for her master's thesis. She found that blind nurses are diversifying the nursing workforce and creating an opportunity to challenge those within nursing to focus on abilities and nurses as knowledge workers rather than categorizing or limiting people by their disability (p.33).

In summary, technology, reasonable accommodations, colleague support, self-advocacy and self-awareness are keys to success for nurses with vision loss to practice.

Please feel free to comment, share experiences, technology and resources related to this topic.

References

American Foundation for the Blind. Profile of Leora Heifetz, Labor and Delivery Nurse. Accessed on August 25, 2015 Career Profile of a Nurse with Low Vision - American Foundation for the Blind

Buttrell, S. (2007). Nurses with disabilities: A phenomenological study of nurses who are blind. Accessed on August 25, 2015 CiteSeerX - NURSES WITH DISABILITIES: A PHENOMENOLOGICAL STUDY OF NURSES WHO ARE BLIND Abstract

Nordemo, S. (2014). In D. Maheady (Ed.), The Exceptional Nurse: Tales from the trenches of truly resilient nurses working with disabilities. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.

Sainitzer, B. (2014). In D. Maheady (Ed.), The Exceptional Nurse: Tales from the trenches of truly resilient nurses working with disabilities. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.

Tozzo, M. (2006). In D. Maheady, Leave No Nurse Behind: Nurses working with disAbilities. Lincoln, NE: iUniverse, Inc.

Resources

1. AFB CareerConnect: For Job Seekers Who Are Blind or Visually Impaired - American Foundation for the Blind
2. Exceptional Nurse
3. Accommodating Nurses with Disabilities