Hi,

I would love your feedback on anticipating concerns or issues that a nursing dept head may raise during a first meeting. I'm hoping to begin studies at a community college's nursing department this summer or fall. I need to meet with the dept head first to be sure that the necessary accommodations can be arranged. In addition to being a logical part of planning, this meeting is also a requirement set by my vocational rehab counselor, who wants to persuade me to choose another career, despite my lifelong dream of being a nurse practitioner or physician.

I am 27 and have been homebound quite a bit of the time since I was 15, due to chronic illness. I was diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome and orthostatic intolerance as a teenager, and for years could hardly sit up because of difficulty maintaining my blood pressure. However, I recently learned that I actually have Lyme Disease. This gives me a much better prognosis and my health is improving. I can do a lot more than I used to (I am upright a lot, leaving the house more, learning to drive, doing physical therapy, and finally just completed my associate degree in liberal arts through distance learning.) However, there are some accommodations my occupational therapist says I will need at nursing school, like limiting my clinical practicum to 4 hours at a time (instead of 6 hours), being allowed to sit when others are standing, and not having to lift more than 30 lbs on my own. I would need to start out taking classes on a very part-time level and work my way up.

I have been quite involved in the health sciences and in pediatric chronic illness education, advocacy and research in the previous decade. I founded a pediatric CFS organization and advocacy campaign as a teen, and now run a network for families coping with CFS, FM or OI. My plan is to work as a nurse educator, consultant, or nurse practitioner, so I can continue doing the pediatric and family work that I love, but with a stronger medical background than I have now. I learn the biomedical sciences very easily, and love child and family psychology, so pediatric and family nursing is a great fit for me. I know my limits and am not planning to work long shifts on a hospital floor. I'll need a creative approach to my career, so I can use nursing knowledge but not constantly be on my feet.

No one in my vocational rehab team doubts that I can handle the course work, but they are concerned about my needing more time to complete it, needing to spend less hours on my feet than other students, etc. I am sure I can pass my boards, but am not sure that the school will give me the accommodations that I need in order to complete the course work.

Do you have any tips for what to expect when I meet with the nursing department chair?

Has anyone else adapted their nursing practicum schedule? For example, has anyone adapted a 6-hour Monday lab to be a 3-hour Monday lab plus a 3-hour Thursday lab? I'm looking for ways to do the same amount of work as other students, but in multiple, shorter sessions.

Do you have any tips about planning for a nursing career outside of the hospital ward? I've always wanted to get my masters and be a nurse practitioner, but am also interested in other ways to teach and empower patients.

Thanks so much for this way to connect with others approaching nursing with creativity....

Hudson Valley Gal

I did learn that you are not required to inform your nursing educators about any of your challenges or disabilities. I did share all my challenges with the Disabled Students Office and they have been a huge support for me.

I couldn't remember all your concerns.

I have not been able to adapt my clinical times. I currently, have 12 hour clinicals and this creates a lot of pain. They are on Saturdays and Sundays, back to back. I was told that this is not considered a reasonable accomidation unless there are clinical times for those hours available. At our school, the clinical times are all 12 hours.

Next, my Voc Rehab counselours first wanted me to be a grocery bagger. I called the local Disability Legal Advocates for my state and they advocated for me. I am on a step-by-step plan. I just finished my LPN portion and are working on my RN component. After that, I am going for my BSN.

How's it going?

Kristina

I also did check out non-hospital options for nursing. There are tons in Denver. Consider, community nursing, visiting nursing, home health nursing, nurse advise lines, ....there are a lot. What are your interests?