I was just curious what others' opinion is on this. Do you think that somone who reads at a grade 5 level can function as a nurse at the bedside ? (Of course there are a variety of roles nurses function in that might be more suitable for a nurse with literacy problems, however, one of the articles explains she is going to be on nursing resource team (bedside nursing on an as needed basis, moving from department to department).
I am not trying to be mean and actually have an LD myself. But I also have a chronic illness and have required admission to hospital and am questioning how I would feel about my nurse having problems with literacy.
I had heard in the past that the college of nurses of ontario allowed a person disability accomodation to write their liscensing exam and then denied them registration based on the nature of the accomodations required. (I don't know the specifics.) This young lady is likley awaiting writing her exam.
She scored below the tenth percentile in reading, reading comprehension and phonological processing, but above the ninetieth percentile in cognitive functioning.
Which goes along with what I was going to say: you'd darn well better be genius-level and a phenominal orator. So, she's an auditory/tactile learner, and very bright.
Most folks reading at the 5th grade level will pretty much function at the 5th grade level...
This is a very common presentation for LD. By definition a LD means you are at least average in some areas while below average in others. In a fair number of cases people with LD are gifted in some areas and score above the 90th percentile on some subsets of WAIS. :)
I would be glad to have this woman as my nurse. I'd much rather have someone with low reading skills and an incredible demonstrated work ethic than some of the lazy, lying, uncaring nurses I have known.
Tell me you don't know nurses who CAN read, but don't bother to!
This nurse will be examining every order, every medication packet, every bag of IV fluids carefully. I'd rather have her than a nurse who just grabs an IV bag off a shelf and hangs it without even looking to see if it's really what she wants.
um...its not necessarily the "5th grade reading level" because 5th graders can read pretty well. What worries me is the learning beyond that. Would you be able to read a physicians order and give medications correctly?? There is a lot that goes with nursing besides giving pills and wipings butts. It requires A LOT of critical thinking, and being able to think independently.
I know its illegal for people to discriminate with disabilities, but you need to keep in mind that often times accept ions cannot be made in cases like this. It is not that they don't want you to test, its that you will be taking care of REAL people who depend on you. And it is very important that you can function independently and be capable of doing the job. There is not a whole lot of room for mess ups when you work in healthcare.
it is not "illegal to discriminate against someone with disabilities." it is illegal to assume that a disability disqualifies someone from hiring. what happens in most industries, and this is a perfect example of why it ought to happen in nursing, is that the employer offers a conditional offer of employment. in some cases, the condition may be the applicant has to pass a physical examination (e.g., for a heavy construction job, must be able to lift 75-100 lbs for this job). in some cases, it might be functional capacity (e.g., roofer, must be able to climb ladders; spanish teacher, must be fluent in oral and written spanish; small electronics assembly, must have normal dexterity of both hands; cook, must be able to smell and taste food). i would think that a simple written test in which the applicant has to read and respond to charting, written orders, lab reports, medication labels, and the like (i could probably develop one of those in 20 questions) would tell the employer whether this applicant had the bona fide skills for this job.
whether or not she had ld help in school is not the point; an employer is not required to have someone else do your lifting on the construction site, climb your ladders, taste your menu offerings, or do all your writing and reading for you. that's why it's a conditional offer of employment. if they can meet the bona fide requirements of the job, fine. if i were a head of a university astrophysics department, i'd do some serious work to keep stephen hawkings on my faculty. but employers are not required by law to implement burdensome means to accommodate anyone who applies for any job. that's what "reasonable" means.
what would be the accommodations this nurse would need? she would need someone at her side at all times when any reading material were involved, from taking an intake nursing history to filling out the morgue form, attending bcls class, or reading the agenda for the staff meeting, the staff phone directory, or the new treatment protocol. this would also have hipaa implications, as that person would have to be hipaa-compliant. she would have to have someone (at her own expense) attend continuing ed programs with her, read professional journals and texts, be aware of what's in the ana standards of practice, and so forth (how did she pass nclex, anyway?). these are all bona fide criteria for holding an rn job.
i agree, the liability a hospital or snf or other healthcare facility would incur by knowingly hiring or keeping a worker in a position that demonstrably requires a higher level of reading ability than this person has would be huge. ada would be no excuse for having a bad patient outcome because she transposed digits in a medication order or lab result, misread a diagnostic imaging report, didn't implement a monitoring protocol, or the like.
as they say, "if caring were enough, anyone could be a nurse." sorry.
I would be glad to have this woman as my nurse. I'd much rather have someone with low reading skills and an incredible demonstrated work ethic than some of the lazy, lying, uncaring nurses I have known.
Tell me you don't know nurses who CAN read, but don't bother to!
This nurse will be examining every order, every medication packet, every bag of IV fluids carefully. I'd rather have her than a nurse who just grabs an IV bag off a shelf and hangs it without even looking to see if it's really what she wants.
I agree.
I think this story is inspirational because it shows that you can overcome your obstacles no matter what they are. Good for her! I wish her luck with her future.
gilberra
4 Posts