#ICAN: A Nurse with Hearing Loss
Sue tells us why she is a great role model for deaf people.
Hearing loss and my career as a nurse
I was in my 10th year when I decided I would become a nurse.I was 17 and doing my pre-nursing year at college when became more evident that I suffering from hearing loss.
All these years later I honestly can’t recall my hearing loss having as bad effect on me as one would assume it would. I think probably it soon made life a lot easier as I was fitted with my hearing aid. I did consider that it might make a difference to how I coped as I began as a student nurse soon after my 18th birthday but apart from the awkwardness of trying to take blood pressures, in those days it was a stethoscope in the ears not like the easy cuff machines they have now, I soon adapted quite well. I managed fairly well with the one ear, if I was uncertain I asked a colleague to check. There are no worries these days with modern medicine.
I think I very soon became adept at lipreading in certain circumstances. Face masks presented a problem whilst working in theatres for example but in 1980 I became a State Registered Nurse (now called a Registered General Nurse).
This year is my 37th year of nursing. I have worked in pretty much every speciality throughout the years. I did step back from acute/emergency areas when I became somewhat more deaf, realising the risks involved if I missed or incorrectly heard instructions during an emergency situation.
I have had telephones adapted for my hearing loss or used amplifiers and made sure that all colleagues were aware of the need to ascertain I have heard them.
I am fortunate that with my aid I can hear well enough to have enjoyed a fulfilling and rewarding career in the job I always wanted to do.
I believe too that with help and support the career you want can be attained.
If you have the determination then maybe applying as a carer (HCA – health care assistant) first to see if you feel its for you and assess how you will cope hearing-wise might be a first step.
Nothing’s impossible. Sue can do it. You can too!
If you have a hearing loss and you’d like to be a role model for younger deaf and hard of hearing people, all you have to do is write up to 500 words on how you got to where you are today. You’re welcome to email us at bookings@121captions.com for direction or contact us on Twitter or Facebook.
