Nursing profession for Hearing impaired !

llg, PhD, RN · Apr 12, 2005

Can you be more specific about your hearing loss? How much hearing do you have? What are your specific capabilities and limitations? Can you hear well with hearing aids, etc.? How well can you hear through a stethescope? Do you also have a problem with tinnitus that is aggravated by noisy environments? How about a balance loss? The answers to such questions will play a big part in determining a good fit for you.

llg

Jay-Jay, RN · Apr 12, 2005

As a nurse with a serious hearing loss (rated moderately severe in the left ear, and severe in the right), I find noisy environments difficult to cope with. When doing hospital nursing, I chose to work nights, because they were quieter. I feel I've found my niche in home care nursing, because that's one-on-one, and I can control the background noise by asking my patient to turn off radios, TV's etc. Also, it meets my need for variety and change, and gets me outdoors in my car. If I wish to, and have the time, I can eat my lunch sitting in the shade at a local park! (Okay, lunch is more often hastily gobbled behind the wheel of my car while running from Patient A to Patient B!) But at least I can still roll the window down, and work on my truck driver's tan! :chuckle

I have heard of nurses and doctors with more severe losses than mine doing hospital nursing, and even working in the E.R. To sum it up, don't let your impairment limit you in what you want to do. I recently came across an amazing article about a young lady who has almost NO useable hearing, but still does labour and delivery nursing in a hospital in the States! (She can hear fetal heart tones and blood pressure, etc. using a special amplified stethescope, but must rely on lip reading, writing notes, or using an ASL intervenor to communicate with the patient and family.)

expatnurse · Apr 12, 2005

Hello Friends ,
I know there are lots of good advice here in nurising forum
So I am trying this . I am student Nurse with hearing loss .
I am wondering what kind of Nursing would be suitable for me .
What kind of Setting/ Speciality would be better for Nurse with hearing problem
Thank you

In the UK many deaf or hard of hearing nurses who sign go into mental health nursing also you may want to look into working at hospital and follow patients through who need someone to sign. Don't give up you can do anything you set your mind too. You will be really needed. Good luck. Go to google and search for websites for nurses/students with disablities I did and there is a lot of information out there.