Nurses and nursing students with disabilities: this webinar is for you!!! #accessinnursing

 

We're thrilled to invite you to the upcoming event hosted by the DocsWithDisabilities Initiative: "Empowering Women with Disabilities in Nursing: A Mentorship Panel."

Event Details:

Date: May 8th, 2024

Time: 3:30 - 5:00 pm EST

Moderators: Drs. Brigit Carter (AACN) and Lisa Meeks (DWDI)

Registration: Webinar Registration - Zoom

All are welcome, with captioning and ASL provided.

Join us as we extend crucial support to women with disabilities in the nursing profession through an enriching mentorship panel. Spearheaded by the Docs with Disabilities team, this event aims to provide free mentorship resources accessible to all members of the nursing community.

Event Overview:

The DocsWithDisabilities Initiative, Access in Nursing Program, and the University of Michigan Center for Disability Health and Wellness, in collaboration with various disability organizations, proudly present "Empowering Women with Disabilities in Nursing: A Mentorship Panel."

Seasoned nurses will share invaluable insights on navigating the nursing journey with a disability while addressing the unique challenges encountered by women in the field.

Funding:

This event is made possible thanks to the generous support from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR #90RTHF0005) and grant 142636 from the Ford Foundation.

We are also proud to work with our partner organizations on this event including:

AACN (American Association of Colleges of Nursing)

AHEAD (Association for Higher Education and Disability)

AMPHL (Association for Medical Professionals with Hearing Loss)

Disability Lead

Exceptional Nurse

Johns Hopkins University Disability Health Research Center

MDisability Program, Department of Family Medicine, Michigan Medicine

SMADIE (Stanford Medicine Alliance for Disability Inclusion and Equity)

UC Davis School of Medicine Center for a Diverse Healthcare Workforce

Hope you can make it.

Cheers!

Donna

Patient with spina bifida became a nursing assistant at Gillette Children's Hospital

Nick Lohmer

"Lohmer has been a Gillette employee for 17 years, but his journey through the halls of the hospital goes back to the first few months of his life.

He was born with a spine condition and knows exactly what the kids there are seeing and feeling.

“I grew up here at Gillette, I have spina bifida myself. I've had 88 surgeries as of a year ago, and not all, but a good number of them have been here at Gillette,” Lohmer said

Spending a lot of his youth at the hospital wasn't always easy, but it did give Lohmer a clear idea of how he planned to spend the rest of his life.

“I kind of always knew from a very young age, early teenage years I would say, that I knew that I wanted to be in the medical field. I wanted to be involved with helping mainly kids but people just in general, that have had similar situations to what I've been through and obviously I can relate to them in a way that other people can't,” Lohmer said.  

Now, everywhere Lohmer goes at the hospital, patients and their families stop to chat.

He is able to walk, but Lohmer’s condition has made it tougher over time. It is easier for him to get around the hospital in his wheelchair.

For patients, it provides an instant connection."

Read more at:

Gillette Children's patient becomes nursing assistant at the hospital where he 'grew up' (fox9.com)

Cheers!

Donna

Learning to live with epilepsy as a nurse in South Africa

"Registered nurse Tamara Moyo (center) shares her personal story of learning to live with epilepsy after being diagnosed in 2022 to encourage and inform others about this neurological condition, which affects one in every 100 people in South Africa, representing approximately half a million South Africans based on a total estimated population of 52 million."

“I’m telling my story in the hope that someone will find encouragement in learning to live with their epilepsy because it is not an easy road. My advice is to keep taking your medication as prescribed, get to know what triggers your epileptic seizure and keep going for regular checks with your neurologist or treating doctor because your treatment needs may change over time.”

Read more at:
 https://www.netcare.co.za/News-Hub/Articles/a-nurses-journey-learning-to-live-with-epilepsy

Epileptic nurse learns to manage her life with the condition (sowetanlive.co.za)

Cheers!

Donna

Meet Diane Bass, a deaf nurse, mentor, ASL user and support group leader!

Diane Bass, BSN

Safe 'N' Clear featured Diane Bass in an article and shared the following. "Bass encourages others to work at or join a developing a supportive community network. Bass moderates a Facebook nursing group because an instructor made the comment that, “There are no Deaf /Hard of hearing people in the nursing field.” The Facebook group is for those who are in the nursing field and have self-disclosed as being on the spectrum of deafness. Members are those with jobs in the nursing field ranging from Certified Nurse Assistant to Nurse Practitioner to PhD or DNP in nursing."

"Bass has worked with Britny Bensman with DeafMED to do first aid and blood pressure screenings for the Deaf community. Children with deafness came to Bass and Bensman and were shocked to see them in a medical field. Bass and Bensman were able to become their role models."

"For those in a comparable situation to Bass, she says, “do not accept negativity that is not based on fact. In fact, we are the proof that we can do it,” and “any seeming failure should never stop you, it only creates a new opportunity to reach the accomplishment.” We are incredibly proud to showcase Diane Bass, BSN in the Deaf Leader Series as she continues to work towards diversifying healthcare workforce to be inclusive and improve quality of healthcare for the deaf and hard of hearing communities."

Read more about Diane at: Meet Diane Bass, Deaf Nurse - Safe'N'Clear, Inc. | The Communicator™ clear face mask (safenclear.com) 

For those interested in Diane’s Facebook page, you can join here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1054081404607317/

Diane can be reached at Deafhohnurses@gmail.com.

Cheers!

Donna

Living with an eating disorder as a patient and a nurse

                                                                         Natalie Rizqallah, BSN, RN, CMSRN

Natalie Rizqallah wrote, "Having an eating disorder was further complicated by my self-perceived moral responsibility as a nurse. I felt like an imposter as a nurse, educating about healthy habits, asking for help, and mental and physical health, and battling first anorexia, then bulimia in private. Over the years, I have been on multiple diets because of my desire to look like the images I was seeing on TV and on social media. Despite knowing these images were digitally altered and literally unattainable, I still felt cultural pressure to be thin and was convinced of this need by deceptive messaging and advertising. I somehow felt less than or not enough when I could not conform to the strict rules of each diet I tried which just worsened my self esteem and self image and I would start the cycle over and look for a new diet."

"Every part of my life had been infiltrated by the eating disorder. It has only been recently after I’ve started working with a dietitian that I truly understood how skilled I was (and sometimes still am) at manipulating myself. I justified and rationalized all of the reasons I couldn’t have certain meals or eat specific amounts of food. Which is why I found myself literally crying when the dietitian asked me to eat something. I cried. I found myself constantly asking her how I could know what was right and healthy for my patients but struggled so much to do the same for myself."

"Recovery is expensive. I don’t take for granted that I can afford to see a dietitian, therapist, psychiatrist, and primary care physician. But the alternative is the costs of continuously tearing your body apart and ending up in the physician’s office and the therapist seeking repair. Eating disorders can impact and invade every relationship in your life, your family, and your job if you let them. They steal your energy, sleep, and rob you of joy and living a fulfilling life. Recovery should not be a luxury or privilege, but I am grateful for the chance. The hardest part of recovery is trusting the healthy voice and the “experts” and simultaneously ignoring the disordered voice in your head that has been telling you all the reasons it was right for so many years. My recovery has reminded me what a gift it is to work as a nurse and help those who are seeking help and trusting us to help them. I am proud to be a nurse AND recovering from an eating disorder." 

Learn more at:

https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/nurse-and-patient-living-eating-disorder/?fbclid=IwAR0McetImSYeYgquHYD6NEupa5LM8eV2Yc0VceK_kYB2uqk1mfMdQozhz34_aem_AW4RNdl7Usb8mJRkGJ1qWLgKPCNkcZa6Hl0eu_nD_pDa7cbhvQpeHAP23xbEFpP-hXT5KSMThNisPOHf51Igare0

https://youtu.be/mNoImbf1Kjc

Cheers!

Donna

Hannah Gerald, born with one arm, achieves her life-long dream of becoming a nurse

The biggest challenge Gerald had to overcome was being able to safely perform meticulous nursing skills.

“That was the big thing for me and my instructors. All of us had to find a way to adapt and be safe,” said Gerald. “I was born this way. I can tie my shoes and put my hair in a ponytail, drive. In general, I’ve had challenges learning to use the prosthetic and only wear it for nursing.”

Gerald conquered procedures like drawing blood early in the program. “I just really practiced a lot. Drawing blood is not the most difficult thing. Anything sterile is more difficult but that’s in general for any nursing student,” said Gerald.

Read more at:

Hannah Gerald achieves her life-long dream of becoming a nurse - Lamar University

https://www.12newsnow.com/article/news/education/nurse-born-with-one-arm-graduates-from-lamar-university-prepares-to-hit-front-lines-of-pandemic/502-d6e43431-d983-408e-99c5-00627f0a702a?fbclid=IwAR1x1vGsN0rt-OZrX7ZMszq7lre1wsOA1q5B8ah3STj9zDxBBrAZrJjIQh8

Cheers!

Donna

Hearing loss isn't stopping this student’s drive to become nurse

"Alana Douglas has a longtime goal of becoming a nurse, and even though life threw an unforeseen hurdle in her path, she’s managed to stay on course.

The Texas Woman’s junior learned in high school that she had begun losing her hearing, which she knew had the potential to impact her career choice. Her doctor told her by the time she reaches 40, she could expect to be completely deaf in her right ear and be left with only 25% hearing in her left.

With her heart set on becoming a nurse, Douglas figured then it would be best to begin preparing for a future with limited hearing. Fortunately, she found a way to do both by enrolling at Texas Woman’s, where she could pursue a degree in nursing while also taking courses in American Sign Language (ASL)."

 Read more about Alana at:

https://twu.edu/black-history-month/featured-stories/hearing-loss-cant-dash-students-drive-to-become-nurse/

Cheers!

Donna