Neuro ICU Nurse with a Cochlear Implant

[deafgirl1213]

Hi all,

So I recently graduated nursing school and have passed my NCLEX (yay!). I accepted a job offer on a Neuro ICU after having a great clinical experience there. I decided for the remainder of the nursing program and up until I passed my NCLEX I would work there as a PCT to get a better understanding of the unit. Since I've started working there as a PCT, I quickly realized I have many challenges due to my hearing. I am profoundly deaf and wear a Cochlear Implant on my right ear, and I find myself not being able to hear what's happening around me.

I've since then started second guessing if I should work on this unit mainly because I worry I will jeopardize the safety of my future patients. I know I am more than capable of performing nursing skills as I have been a PCT for over 2 1/2 years and have gained a lot of exposure to the profession. However, my biggest concern is whenever there's a situation such as a rapid response or code that I won't be able to hear what is going on. I've witnessed a few of these cases as a PCT and realized it is incredibly noisy and chaotic and I was not able to understand what everyone was saying.

Another thing is if a patient goes down for a MRI, the nurse has to come down as well, and with my cochlear implant I cannot be in MRI rooms due to my internal processor so I am unsure of how to navigate that situation. Another concern is taking report over the phone as I tend to struggle with hearing the person on the other line. Overall, this unit presents a lot of challenges that I feel like I would be better off working somewhere else that is not a hospital job.

I've searched around to see any places that would fit me best, and I truly feel like working in Audiology would be the best case scenario for me as I wouldn't have to worry about my hearing and worry about feeling so self-conscious. However, there truly aren't any jobs for nurses in Audiology. I've considered going back to school for audiology or speech pathology, but I genuinely just don't know what to do anymore.

I don't mean for this to be a pity party, it's just something I've been internally struggling with and have a hard time talking about it with my parents or friends, since they are all hearing and don't quite understand my anxiety about this situation.

 

[_Sparky]

Hi all,

So I recently graduated nursing school and have passed my NCLEX (yay!). I accepted a job offer on a Neuro ICU after having a great clinical experience there. I decided for the remainder of the nursing program and up until I passed my NCLEX I would work there as a PCT to get a better understanding of the unit. Since I've started working there as a PCT, I quickly realized I have many challenges due to my hearing. I am profoundly deaf and wear a Cochlear Implant on my right ear, and I find myself not being able to hear what's happening around me.

I've since then started second guessing if I should work on this unit mainly because I worry I will jeopardize the safety of my future patients. I know I am more than capable of performing nursing skills as I have been a PCT for over 2 1/2 years and have gained a lot of exposure to the profession. However, my biggest concern is whenever there's a situation such as a rapid response or code that I won't be able to hear what is going on. I've witnessed a few of these cases as a PCT and realized it is incredibly noisy and chaotic and I was not able to understand what everyone was saying.

Another thing is if a patient goes down for a MRI, the nurse has to come down as well, and with my cochlear implant I cannot be in MRI rooms due to my internal processor so I am unsure of how to navigate that situation. Another concern is taking report over the phone as I tend to struggle with hearing the person on the other line. Overall, this unit presents a lot of challenges that I feel like I would be better off working somewhere else that is not a hospital job.

With respect to phone usage: your audiologist can get you qualified to download to your smartphone an app called Olelo; because of ADA you don't have to pay for its usage. Basically turns your conversations into text in real time, looks just like text messaging on the phone. It will also create texts for voicemail, which comes with the app. Your concerns about not hearing what's happening is something that you'd have to flag for an employer. Are there positions in this field that won't require you to be in the NICU as well as staying away from MRI rooms? More of an administrative position or manager of NICU? That would probably be at the big hospitals that provide a lot of physicians via their extensive network. Also, what about Kaiser, do they have NICU facilities?

I've searched around to see any places that would fit me best, and I truly feel like working in Audiology would be the best case scenario for me as I wouldn't have to worry about my hearing and worry about feeling so self-conscious. However, there truly aren't any jobs for nurses in Audiology. I've considered going back to school for audiology or speech pathology, but I genuinely just don't know what to do anymore.

I don't mean for this to be a pity party, it's just something I've been internally struggling with and have a hard time talking about it with my parents or friends, since they are all hearing and don't quite understand my anxiety about this situation.