Students with Disabilities

I have been reading about the ADA lately in regard to service animals. You bring up an interesting point. I believe there is some stipulation that addresses if the person who falls under the ADA, when they can't perform the requirements of the job. Can a nurse in a wheelchair meet the demands of patient care?

diane227 said:

I have been reading about the ADA lately in regard to service animals. You bring up an interesting point. I believe there is some stipulation that addresses if the person who falls under the ADA, when they can't perform the requirements of the job. Can a nurse in a wheelchair meet the demands of patient care?

Interesting question. I actually had a student in a wheelchair in one of my clinical groups (this was not just a hypothetical situation). She performed amazingly well in the clinical setting and was able to do everything that was required according to course objectives and beyond! She was an inspiration to all (especially to patients facing situational crises in their lives) and to the staff. In one clinical setting, the staff actually stood up and applauded her after she gave her testimony.

There are many situations in which a nurse in a wheelchair can perform adequately - psychiatric nursing and certain community health positions, to name a few. I'm sure there are many others.

I'm glad this discussion came out. I had to leave clinicals after my SCI because the educators felt I couldn't continue with the course work.

This was some 6 years ago and I have always wondered if there have been others who had successfully completed clinicals being a paraplegic.

I am a T10 and have good upper body strength and there isn't very much I can't do as it is right now.

I can tell you this, despite the many degrees that instructors may have, many teacher are ignorant when it comes to dyslexia this includes employers and people. It has been my experience the teachers can be some of worst offenders of discrimination when it comes to students with learning difficulties. I have learned to really hate the word disability.

I am a new graduate; the last people I thought I would have problems with were educators and nursing instructors. I had teachers in nursing school who made it as difficult as possible for me and other students because we had special testing areas. The tests were the same as everyone else’s, but we got extra time on our test and in a quiet environment. The attitude was that we were getting something extra “an unfair advantage” that made me so mad.

My point is do not set the mark in life for your students; let them set what they can achieve in life for themselves. Please look at the two links, one is a web sight for college students with dyslexia plus other teaching resources and is a you tube link that might open your eyes a little. John

Ps I passed with a b average and a for the last.

I'm a nurse in an electric wheelchair. I work the night shift in a nursing home on the rehab unit, but I've also worked days many times due to call-ins. I'm pretty popular with the staff and patients, and get top evaluations, so I must conclude that I'm pulling my weight :)

I might not have gone into nursing if I had known I was going to be disabled, but there are a great many jobs that disabled nurses can do. In fact, my health problems have given me great insight into my patients' woes. I venture to say that I'd be a lesser nurse if I had not gotten sick.

Just because you are disabled doesn't mean you can't fulfill your job requirements--you just have to pick the right job. I can pass meds with the best of them. I can chart, assign duties to CNAs, assess my patients, do treatments, etc etc. The only job that I don't do is ambulate patients, which is not a critical part of the nurses's tasks anyway.

Another thing I'd like to point out is that because a nurse is in a wheelchair doesn't mean that she can't stand or walk. I can do both--just not for long. I don't have any trouble repositioning or transferring patients. This is an assumption that I find people commonly make about me--that I can't stand at all. I hope that helps :)

not meaning to be rude....but can you do cpr ??????

That's not rude at all :) Ask anything you like!

I don't have any trouble doing CPR because I can lean on the bedside to do chest compressions. In 5 years I've never had to do CPR at work, though. I have a good team of CNAs and we run drills and practice what to do.

I guess the point is something like this: One of the nurses I work with is a smoking alcoholic. She can barely make it down the hall herself. Another nurse weighs over 350 pounds. Another nurse is recovering from cancer treatments. Yet they are considered "normal" and I'm "disabled", and considered more of a handicap by people who don't know us, and they don't think anything about working with those gals. I work rings around them (Not picking on them, we all have our crosses, just using them as an example).

There are many types of nurses and nursing, and this student probably has more upper body strength than your average student, beds today lower down very low and as long as she can reach around to properly care for a client I do not see a problem. Many of us able bodied nurses need a spare pair of hands to shift a person or for cpr. I have only done cpr on 1 person by myself and that was my husband, in my home while my son called 911.

I know many nurses who have never touched a client with a wash rag, or lifted a resident. If it did not come up in their clinical they never did a particular task on a live person. Just a model and to be perfectly honest I couldn't do a iv to save my life.

I see no reason that a handicapped nurse could not do what I do in geriatrics. There are so many other areas as well, labor and delivery nicu, insurance reviews,crc reviews, mds reviews or psych nursing, school nursing, or instructing. The best social worker I ever knew was a paraplegic.

I believe my nephew who is a 29 year old quadriplegic would be more receptive to a nurse who is a paraplegic that from his "Witchy' old aunt. Or any other able bodied person. Our concept of nursing changes daily and this student wants to be a nurse for a reason and has much to offer. Teach her as you would any other student but leave room for the education she'll teach her fellow students by her example. I have worked with many nurses over the years and learned much, like taking a blood pressure without a stethoscope from a deaf friend, when I was a student I fractured my left wrist and thumb I can do everything with my right hand as well, I learned or I would have been kicked out of the nursing school 3 weeks before graduation. So give her a chance to showcase her skill.

Cobweb said:

I guess the point is something like this: One of the nurses I work with is a smoking alcoholic. She can barely make it down the hall herself. Another nurse weighs over 350 pounds. Another nurse is recovering from cancer treatments. Yet they are considered "normal" and I'm "disabled", and considered more of a handicap by people who don't know us, and they don't think anything about working with those gals. I work rings around them (Not picking on them, we all have our crosses, just using them as an example).

"Normal" is my least favorite word in the English language. Yes, I know nurses have to know what is "normal" for many aspects of patient care. But the word can really be hurtful, because it makes people constantly compare themselves to others or some vague ideal, rather than look at what their competencies are and how they can be empowered to shape their own future. (I work with people with severe chronic pain, many of whom constantly beat themselves up for "not being normal".)

Off the soapbox now. Thanks much, Cobweb. I'm so glad you posted.

Isn't NORMAL just a setting on your clothes dryer???

Isn't NORMAL just a setting on your clothes dryer???

:chuckle

I received testing accommodations in college at NYU. I am dyslexic and received extra time and a distraction free environment during tests. I deserved those accommodations based on my neurologist's findings. I was diagnosed with my disability at 7-8 years of age. My disability will never be gone or cured, but I had extensive remediation. (its actually discriminatory to me that I had to be reevaluated as an adult learner in college to keep those testing accommodations because people would actually try and exploit the system!) I can do everything that anyone else can do... I look the same as everyone else. I am articulate and intelligent. So when I say I'm dyslexic to people in school, professionally, or personally - they are shocked! I am happy to see their shock and educate them on what is my cross to bear over a lifetime. I am extremely creative and I think in pictures while others have an inner monolog (you just hear yourself in your head vs. I see myself in my head). For instance, you think about getting a glass of water when you're thirsty - I picture the whole walk to the kitchen, take out the glass, let the water run on your hand to feel when it gets cool, I hear the glass filling, I taste the water... now I'm thirsty... I am an advocate for my disability by being proud of it's part in making me - well me! When people have been bitter, I feel out the situation and decide if I walk away or change someone's mind about what it means to be learning disabled - beyond the old cliche - "we learn differently..." I tell them how I'm different and how having that special place and extra time to take my exams levels the playing field... I never have an advantage...

I read once it explained this way - everyone else is running on a track in their lane. Everyone learns to run on that track the same way. My lane has hurdles so I can't just run like the rest of you... I have to learn to jump. So in the end... I believe that's why so many famous people have this disability... It actually makes us stronger... or it gobbles others up and leaves them without a chance.

so here comes the question - with so many nursing errors that could be hazardous to a patient why do I think its safe for my dyslexic brain to be out there handling serious medical care? It is a valid question. I embrace it. Here is how.

I take my disability seriously. I know that some medications look or even sound alike. Its hard for any of us sometimes on a hectic day... so I check with pharmacy when I'm not sure about something. I check, check, check and recheck... I act when I suspect someone is starting to crash... I get early interventions started... I critically think... I am a team player... I time manage... I multitask... I am constantly looking up answers to my questions and my patients questions... I draw pictures to teach my patients... I check check check and recheck my orders! I complete my orders and clean up my space! I keep myself organized and I write things down! I check check check everything before I leave for the night!

I do everything that you do and I'm even more careful than you are, because I have to be... I am a hospital concerned with patient safety's dream nurse! So my answer is my dyslexic brain needs me to double check myself all the time... Shouldn't you be doing the same? Haven't I found the greatest place for my brain?

My answer is 100% yes!