Hello every body,
well,I am deaf in my right ear and my left ear has normal hearing.I will start nursing program soon,and I love to become a nurse anesthetic.I have already contacted the school which offers nurse anesthetic program and they said that they won't discriminate me.Still,I am worry when it comes to working my hearing problem causes safety problem for patient or put me under too much stress.So,please let me know if you have same problem and if you are a nurse anesthetic.Thanks in advance.

Hello,

No problem. If you have normal hearing in one ear then you're golden. It will be a challenge and inconvenient at times but you can use a normal stethoscope and be confident that your good ear is picking up on what you need to hear if you are careful and mindful of your environmental needs when doing an assessment. I don't think this will keep you from realizing your goal of becoming a nurse anesthetist.

Who am I? I'm a 33yo family nurse practitioner with progressive moderately severe hearing loss bilaterally. I worked as a floor nurse and as an FNP with bilateral hearing aids and an amplified stethoscope. I am currently at home with two small children, but plan to return to work in the next year. It is a challenge, however, working with this disability, and I'm hoping that when I return I can specialize in dermatology so I am not relying upon my auscultation skill for diagnosis. I fear a "miss." In my personal journey through nursing, I have found that it is important both to push yourself beyond your fears, but also to recognize the limits of your condition. And both are very important. You want to be be the best you can be, but you also want to be confident in your skills and you want your patients to be safe. So I think that you are wise to consider the challenges before you, carefully. However, I am sure you can succeed if you are committed. Good luck~

Katie Dubay

Yes,you exactly know how I feel,I want to be the best I can be and still I am afraid because of my problem.I will apply for nursing soon and I wish this will not put me under too much stress.Thanks for your support and sorry that I am this much late to reply your massage.
Good luck to you and your family too.

I believe that a hearing loss is not that much of a handicap when it comes to good nursing care. Your eyes nose and gut feeling are your best tools. In 8 years I have only missed one pt in heart failure. I didnt recognize the rales he had...he visually didn't have any distress his numbers didnt show anything and I dont listen to lung sounds. This happened just last week and I am now gonna get an electronic scope. I have never feared my hearing loss with my nursing care. The only thing I worry about is communicating with staff MD's ect. People sometimes get annoyed because you say what too much. I now can care less at the age of 41ys,but there was a time I hated and feared asking what a second time. I just found out that my ENT..whom I have been seeing for 30 years ...has a hearing loss and wheres an aide. I asked him what does he do in the OR...he says " I make people speak louder"I was shocked and floored when he told me . I always wanted to work the OR but it is tough when I rely on peoples facial expressions and lip read a bit. So a loud ER is where I am. As far as hearing blood pressures and lung sounds I think you will be fine with an electric scope and remember BP's are automatic now. Please Please dont put your dream of nurse anesthetic on hold due to your hearing loss. You are quite capable of doing the OR or any area of nursing with much success. Please let me know how things go. I gave you my private email feel free to use it . My best wishes for your future. KIM H

Thank you so much;I am going to apply for nursing program soon.Thanks for your support,but I just don't know where did you send me your personal email.Sorry that I am replying to your massage late.

Hello,
Like you, when I first entered the field of nursing I was worried that my hearing loss would affect my patient's care. However, I find quite the opposite. If anything, my hearing loss has allowed me to be more of an attentive nurse and look for more clues regarding the patient's health. I think I am a better nurse due to my hearing loss. I would encourage you to go into the field and not worry about the hearing loss affecting your patient's care. Like one of the other responses, I had more trouble with the MD's and coworkers than I did with my patient. It really is all about just educating people on hearing loss. Once people understand that, they are more willing to work with you. Good luck:-)

I am an LPN. I hear fine, but am clinically blind in one eye... that is why I joined this forum. When I had my second child recently, I had a L&D nurse that was partially deaf in both ears. She was the most amazing nurse I had. She was very kind, and a very beautiful person. She was just so sweet. I think she read lips, but could also hear a little bit. It didn't seem to affect her job too much... I think the fact that you have good hearing in one ear is a good thing. If I could have been born with the vision loss or hearing loss, I would've took the hearing loss... though I wish none of us or anyone had a disability at all. Good luck with everything!