wondering if i can be a nurse

Jamesdotter · Mar 27, 2005

i want to be a nurse....I am a junior in highschool....I have a genetic disorder (neurofibromatosis) which causes you to have tumors....unfortunatly i have one of the tumors on my right orbital....it impairs my vision....i have no vision in that eye....i do however have better then 20/20 vision in my left eye....do you think i can still be a nurse? (i am wondering about both legally and practiclly)

There was a senior student who took her senior experience on our unit who was blind in one eye. She said she didn't have any trouble except driving, because of lack of depth perception and having to use a special mirror to see both sides of the road. :) She was an A student, but I don't suppose that had anything to do with her vision.

Jen,SN · Mar 28, 2005

I work with dozens of nurses/nursing students who need some form of vision correction--I think as long as you can do an assessment without difficulty, and as long as you have enough depth perception to work with your hands(ie, give an injection, do IV's), you'll be fine.

I have a severe astigmatism in one eye and very poor depth perception, and I do fine--there are some days where I have to pass off the trickier blood draws to others, but other than that I've never had a problem.

FirePup · Mar 28, 2005

Hi There!

As a person who is blind in my right eye I have ABSOLUTELY no problem with anything work related. Depth perception is probably the biggest difficulty, but I just practice a few times if a skill is giving me problems and has helped me greatly!

So yes...you can absolutely be a nurse being blind in one eye!

Good Luck! :)

MaraG. · Sep 25, 2005

i want to be a nurse....I am a junior in highschool....I have a genetic disorder (neurofibromatosis) which causes you to have tumors....unfortunatly i have one of the tumors on my right orbital....it impairs my vision....i have no vision in that eye....i do however have better then 20/20 vision in my left eye....do you think i can still be a nurse? (i am wondering about both legally and practiclly)

Hey Meg,

I too have NF. (NF1, actually) I have poor vision in one of my eyes this causes me to have little depth perception. If you want to email each other that would be great. Let me know and I will give you my address.