What a great story! I am an lpn student, 47 yrs old and have always wanted to be a nurse. I was born w/ a deformed left hand and am wondering if anyone has any information on special gloves and where they could be purchased. I will not let my hand get in the way of becoming a nurse. Please pray for me. Thank You. Mary
Scoring disabled. You must be logged in to score posts.
Mary,
I guess we are twins! I too am 47 years old. Like the article says I have been a nurse for > 20 years and I am missing my left hand. You can do it..You sound like you have the number one ingredient "determination". Next month Donna and I have an article in AWHONN Lifelines a journal for OB/Neonatal nurses, take a look at it. Where do you live? What school are you looking at? You can email me if you need help with the school.
Susan Fleming RN
Scoring disabled. You must be logged in to score posts.
Susan, I just read your second reply...wow lots of similarities!!!!It means a lot to me that you have answered my postings. I am attending LPN school at Professional Skills Institute in Toledo Ohio. I live in Rossford, Ohio which is a suburb of Toledo. I chose this LPN school for the following reasons; First of all the graduates all passed the NCLEX, the school is also certified by the Ohio Bd of Nursing. The University of Toledo program is on probation by the Ohio Bd of Nursing, and Owens Community College has a 2 yr waiting list. My intention is to complete the LPN program and return to school for RN on an accelerated program. We just started classes 2 weeks ago. Where do you live. It would be nice if it was close so we could meet someday. How would I get access to the article you are referring to? Thank you so much for your help; it keeps me inspired......Mary
Scoring disabled. You must be logged in to score posts.
Susan,
Can you tell me how to help a student with limited use of his right hand? He needs to pass a competency involving sterile technique and we are having a very hard time. I tried calling your hospital today but I was not able to reach you there. I read about your accomplishments on the internet and wondered if you had a good idea.
Thanks, Theo
Scoring disabled. You must be logged in to score posts.
Susan, thank you for your reply. I met a nurse today who works in ICU at a local hospital whose hand is similar to mine. She uses a smaller glove on her bad hand; but I found that a larger glove works better on my bad hand. I just have to find the right technique to be able to do a sterile procedure w/ the gloves. (especially where my 2 fingers are missing and my pinky only goes as far as the first knuckle. Is your disability similar to mine, and if so how do you adjust yours? I thank you so very much for your help. God Bless.......Mary
Scoring disabled. You must be logged in to score posts.
I slip the glove on the bad hand first, loosley then I use the bad hand to help place on the right hand. I hope that you understand...........Susanne
Email me your address and I will send you some pictures
Scoring disabled. You must be logged in to score posts.
I was born without fingers on my right hand and I am 50 yrs old. I am a cosmetologist, LPN, RN, and an EMT. I have been a nurse for 25 yrs. I use a smaller glove on my right hand and a larger one on my left. I don't have a good hand and a bad hand just a smaller one. If I can assist in this cause to encourage others , please let me know how. Thank you Robyn Finch
Scoring disabled. You must be logged in to score posts.
Robyn,
Thank you so much for your response. Do you tuck in the area of the glove where the fingers are missing? Also do you get pockets of air that push those parts of the glove that are tucked in? If you could send me the instructions as to the way you put the gloves on I would greatly appreciate this.
God Bless,
Mary (hendricksm@sbcglobal.net)
Scoring disabled. You must be logged in to score posts.
I am so happy to find other nurses/students with a hand disability to talk to! Mary, Susan, Robyn, and anyone else in nursing with a hand disability. I would greatly appreciate any advice or suggestions you could give me re: nursing procedures. I am a newly accepted LVN student. I start class next week. I also have one hand that is not fully functional due to an incident at birth. My right arm & hand is smaller and weaker, and I can not fully extend my arm or rotate my wrist. I know it's hard to picture. As you can imagine I'm overstressing myself as to how much they will work with me. I have sucessfully completed a medical assisting program. My right hand is just not real steady and I don't have a strong grip for some of the small procedures and had to just switch hands or make adjustments. My concern also is sterile procedures (ex. cateterization)in which you use both hands. I also would appreciate personal e-mails and or pics of your handicap to compare. I will send pics in return. thanks
Scoring disabled. You must be logged in to score posts.
hi, i am so new to this site but nice to hear i am not all alone. i have been an LVN. for 25 years and was in a major accident , i have no use of my lt.arm and can use my fingers very little. i love nursing and was a cna. 5 years prior to nursing school. i have had 4 surgeries and wore a cast for 3 years now have to wear a special brace , prob. forever. i wear this 23 hours a day , and my caregiver can remove it during shower time. i have alot of faith and pray alot, just maybe one day i can help and be the nurse i was. i live in severe pain and visited pain centers , not effective ... i would love to hear from you all , we can try to help each other. i found out just how many true friends i really had after i am not able to keep up with all. i was very active ( like all nurses) this accident that made me and my life come to a stop was in 2001 and i am still home and just was able to get on line. ( depression is really taking me for a ride of my life, never had that before)
thanks for reading and hope to hear from some great nurses, you are all GOD SENT . THANKS, goldy
Scoring disabled. You must be logged in to score posts.
Hi...I'm glad to read all your posts. I'm a pre-nursing student so I have yet to experience the challenges of clinicals. I'm excited, yet nervous. We were practicing BP at school and I had trouble with it. I'm wondering what kind of reasonable accomodation could be made for that. I am also looking into customized gloves. I was going to e-mail a glove manufacturer about it. Both of my hands are small and I have 3 fingers on the left and 4 on the right (but one is not functional), plus my arms are shortened. I can wear gloves, it would just be nice to have ones that fit without extra fingers.
Scoring disabled. You must be logged in to score posts.
Hi.....
We are having a timed test for vitals in 2 weeks; if you don't pass by the 2nd try you will not be eligible for clinicals and be removed from the fundamentals of nursing class and repeat it again later. My concern is taking bp readings using the cuff; any ideas as to how you loosen the valve on the bulb when reading diastolic pressure.....Any help would be appreciated....
Scoring disabled. You must be logged in to score posts.
Mary, I bet I am late getting back to you. I am sorry I don't quite know what you mean; however, I do feel that you can master b/p as well as any one else and time eventually will not be a factor. Practice Practice Practice....Any advice Robyn?
Susan
Scoring disabled. You must be logged in to score posts.