Epilepsy patient becomes a nurse at B.C. hospital that treated her and changed her life

Dr. Chantelle Hrazdil, left, a Vancouver General Hospital neurologist and epileptologist, and Keri-Rose Tiessen. Photo by Eduardo Caceres

 "Keri-Rose Tiessen's struggled with a rare type of seizure - once the SIU diagnosed and treated her, she became a nurse in neuroscience." 

"Today, at 39, she’s able to play hockey, swim in open water, hike and run, drive a vehicle — all the things she loves and once was told she couldn’t do anymore."

"Her pacemaker isn’t a magic wand, she cautioned. It and her medication are like a bandage, preventing her from having heart-stopping seizures, but she still has smaller, less severe seizures on occasion."

"Being a nurse had always been her dream job. The team at VGH and the epilepsy clinic worked her medical schedule around her school work, as well as her days-long stays in the unit."

"So to be able to help calm some patients whose shoes she’s been in, it’s not exactly paying it forward, it’s more like things have come full circle.

“I’m not here without the SIU, you have no idea,” Tiessen said. “I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing without them.”

Read more about Keri-Rose Tiessen at:

VGH Seizure Investigation Unit saved her, so she went to work for them | Vancouver Sun

Epilepsy patient becomes nurse at the same B.C. hospital unit that changed her life | Globalnews.ca

Cheers!

Donna

Results of a Study of Disability and Accommodation Use in BSN Programs in the USA

 

JAMA Network Open published the following study results.

"Twenty-two schools responded to the social media and listserv call; 19 met criteria for the study and completed the questionnaire. The schools identified 562 of 6416 nursing students with disabilities, representing 8.4% of the total enrollment, with school percentages of nursing students with disabilities ranging from 2% to 21.2%. Psychological disabilities were the most common category reported (224 [3%]), followed by attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) (141 [2.1%]) and chronic health conditions (98 [1.2%]). Mobility (6 [0.1%]) and sensory (23 [0.4%]) disabilities were less common. School-based testing accommodations were most frequently used (19 [100%]); clinical accommodations were less frequently used. Nine schools (47.4%) reported using a disability determination structure that included assistance of the disability services office without a liaison."

"This is the first study, to our knowledge, to evaluate the frequency of nursing students with disabilities in traditional prelicensure BSN programs. We found a proportion estimate of 8.4%, exceeding the prevalence in medical schools (5.9%). Differences in accommodation provision and disability proportions between schools may stem from variations in admissions practices, disability expertise, or resource allocation. The prominence of psychological disabilities and ADHD suggests these areas should be prioritized in future research, including studies on student performance and efficacy of accommodations. Conversely, the scarcity of nursing students with mobility and sensory disabilities warrants future investigation on barriers to entering and fully participating in the profession."

Read the entire article via the link below.

Jackson BL, Cameron VK, Hodgens TM, et al. Disability and Accommodation Use in US Bachelor of Science in Nursing Programs. JAMA Netw Open. 2025;8(2):e2461038. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.61038

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2830457?widget=personalizedcontent&previousarticle=2830459

Cheers!

Donna

Hearing loss didn't stop this ICU nurse

The Cleveland Clinic shared this story about Marissa Pusateri, BSN, RN. 

"Marissa  was diagnosed with bilateral profound hearing loss at 9 months old. She received cochlear implants as a toddler and then embarked on several years of speech therapy and auditory training. Although she says her hearing loss was never much of an obstacle during her school years, “everything changed” when she began working in the ICU."

“Everyone has a hard time with masks, but it is even more of a challenge for someone like me,” she explains. “Masks constrict the sound of a person’s voice and obviously make it impossible to read lips. The stress was overwhelming at first, but I quickly realized that the best – and only – solution was to be open about my needs. Once I made it clear to my colleagues that they had to speak up, things instantly improved.”

"Receiving a phone call or interpreting verbal instructions from a physician – especially one with an unfamiliar accent – can be particularly difficult, she notes. She has learned to manage the sounds in the ICU — the equipment and cacophony of voices — by positioning herself in locations that give her a clear view of the room and her fellow clinicians."

"Pusateri explains that she initially had trouble hearing through the Vocera devices that the staff uses to communicate with each other. Always willing to find a solution, she discovered how to route Vocera calls through her cell phone, which is connected by Bluetooth to her hearing aids."

“That was life-changing for me,” she says.

Read more at: Nurse Overcomes Career-Limiting Disability With Openness, Ingenuity

Cheers!

Donna