Will my disability stop my dreams of being a nurse???

shhr · Oct 13, 2011

Have you consulted your doctors, counselors, and advisors in the nursing program? I think they would be the best people to talk to about this to determine any limitations or risks.

katehensley, BSN, RN · Oct 13, 2011

Yes I've tried. I've been to many podiatrists (I think I spelt that right) in my city and I've had many doctors and none of them have ever heard of cmt. The same goes with the academic advisers. :uhoh3:

shhr · Oct 13, 2011

Well I'm sure you know best what your limitations are. I like to think you'll find a way if you want it enough. I am not a nurse (yet) but for every job there is a description. You could check them out at your local hospital websites...also you could shadow a nurse for the day to see exactly what his/her job entails and if you'll be able to do what they do physically. If you can do the job, then there should be no reason why you couldn't be a nurse. There are also jobs in nursing that are basically desk jobs, am I right? You have options!

Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN · Oct 13, 2011

Nursing is a physically demanding career and nursing school is a rigorous curriculum. You will need to pass a physical when you get into nursing school. YOu are on your feet all day, lifting patients, and transporting them all over the place. It is a physically demanding job. Now when you graduate there are positions that you can have that aren't as physically demanding but usually require at least a years experience.

BUT......Follow your dreams.....just be prepared in case you need to alter your course. Remember when one door closes another one opens....:redbeathe

Good luck!!!

katehensley, BSN, RN · Oct 14, 2011

Thank you for the responses. :) it is my dream to be a nurse. I know my disabillity may make things more complicated for me, but i do not want my disability to define me. I want to break the restrictions i have been given..... I just feel so stupid when i try for 5 mins to empty a cath bag, and have to ask for help. and then they pinch it with no problem. :banghead:

1southernstudent · Oct 14, 2011

You lived with this your whole life and managed to do well. Will it be easy? Maybe not, but that shouldn't stop you. Find ways to compensate. Carry a pair of needle nose plyers in your scrub pocket to help squeeze things open or to squeeze them closed. Where there's a will there's a way. Good luck to you!!

katehensley, BSN, RN · Oct 14, 2011

thats a really good idea 1southernstudent :) yeah i'll just have to be crafty and creative in certain situations. thank you

xtxrn, ASN, RN · Oct 14, 2011

I've heard of CMT....but have forgotten a lot. Is it progressive? If you can get through school and a year of clinical bedside nursing, you may have options for desk jobs in LTCs . Or offices, clinics, etc. :)

Good luck !!

katehensley, BSN, RN · Oct 14, 2011

WOW xtxrn, you are honestly the first person i've EVER talked to that has heard of it, :yeah: and yes it is progressive. i dont worry so much about being on my feet, i worry that i wont be strong enough with my arms and hands.

tiffjh2 · Oct 14, 2011

I don't think They can discriminate u for a disability but they don't have to hire you. As in if u get hired they legally can't fire you for the disability. Find out all information you can. Good luck!

Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN · Oct 14, 2011

I just want you to be prepared for disappointment. I suffer from an auto-immune muscle disease (dermatomyositis/polymyositis/IBM) another rare disorder covered by the MDA also. Nursing is a brutal environment and physically challenging....when I could no longer keep up they dumped me and I had more than 30 years experience. "Reasonable Accommodation" for disabilities and "undue hardship" to the employer can be interpreted in many ways by the employer and their failure to "accomodate" is difficult to prove at best.

You are going to have a tough road and I don't want to discourage you as we all need dreams to reach for......I just want you to be prepared that although you may get through school with flying colors, getting hired will be another issue all together. The key word for you is that CMT is progressive albeit slowly progressive. I can tell you that at the bedside, or in general, you won't find people at the bedside in nursing with "disabilities". At least none that they admit too. You will NOT see nurses that use assistive devices other than hearing aides or some visual assistive devices. No canes, No braces, NO walkers, No wheelchairs to speak of. Really No one that has Multiple sclerosis or Myasthenia Gravis or degenerative muscular/neurological disorders ( I know there are very rare exceptions to the rules but that is rare). Hospitals do NOT like sick nurses and they don't keep them for long if they keep them at all.

I am so glad that your co-workers are so helpful to you but historically when a nurse doesn't "pull her weight" her peers aren't so tolerant. I asked for "reasonable accommodation" ( I was a supervisor at night) and all I got was laid off with a severance package, hospitals know how to discriminate without being openly in violation. That pre-employment physical is code for "how hard can she work" It isn't pretty in the real hospital environment and I don't want you hurt....:hug: Administration isn't warn and fuzzy and the HR department isn't your friend, so have an alternative plan....I wish you nothing by happiness and success..:redpinkhe

FOr those who don't know what CMT is.....

http://www.mda.org/disease/cmt.html

Dermatomyositis

http://www.mda.org/publications/fa-myosi.html