Congratulations to our scholarship winner, Hallie Beach!

 

Nursing students with a wide range of disabilities are increasing in number every year. Disabilities may include hearing loss, low vision, learning disabilities, limb differences, paralysis, mental illness, autism and chronic conditions such as multiple sclerosis, lupus, autoimmune disease and movement disorders.

Financing an education can be a challenge for some students with disabilities. In addition to routine expenses (tuition, room and board, books, uniforms, transportation), some students may need to purchase an amplified or electronic stethoscope, computer software programs, or audio books—as well as medications, hearing aids, therapies, prostheses, special equipment or custom alterations to uniforms and lab coats. Working a part-time job may not be possible.

ExceptionalNurse.com is a nonprofit resource network for nursing students and nurses with disabilities. The organization has been awarding scholarships to nursing students with disabilities since 2003. The awards are based on academic performance, letters of recommendation, financial need and an essay which answers the questions: “How do you plan to contribute to the nursing profession? How will your disability influence your practice as a nurse”? The award this year was $500.00.

ExceptionalNurse.com is honored to announce the winner for 2026!!!

Congratulations Hallie Beach!!!

Hallie wrote: "I plan to contribute to the nursing profession by using the latest research to guide and reform patient care and the nursing profession. One way I might do this is by advocating for fair wages and safe patient-to-nurse ratios at hospitals. I also plan to achieve a rheumatology nursing certification, which will allow me to be a better pediatric rheumatology nurse practitioner (NP). In addition to this certification, focusing my PHD dissertation on juvenile autoimmune disorders, I will raise my level of care as an NP and participate in and lead research to find a cure for autoimmune disorders. On top of this research, I have the option to teach nursing students and mentor future nurses and nurse practitioners who may go onto furter advance the field of medicine and nursing. I am especially excited to have the opportunity to teach and support nursing students who also have disabilities, furthering diversity and support for the disabled in nursing. My disability has added to my empathy for patients and has given me a special insight and understanding of those who also have disabilities and chronic illnesses. I understand what it’s like to be a patient and live with the struggles of having a disability. Having a disability as a future nurse has also fostered resilience and an appreciation for my health, something I may be able to help patients do. Although my disability has altered my goals and future, I refuse to let it take away my dreams, and I want to do the same for patients and other nurses with disabilities".

Hallie will be attending the BSN program at the University of Arizona.

The ExceptionalNurse.com scholarship awards are funded through donations, grants and proceeds from book sales of “The Exceptional Nurse: Tales from the trenches of truly resilient nurses working with disabilities”, “Leave No Nurse Behind: Nurses working with disabilities”, “Nursing students with disabilities change the course” and "I am a nurse: Color me Exceptional!". 

To make a donation please visit: 

https://www.exceptionalnurse.com/makeadonation.php

Best wishes Hallie!

Donna

Caroline Robinson, a former cancer patient, graduates as a nurse

 

Kate Slate, University Development, at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill reported this story.

The lump on Robinson’s neck was Hodgkin lymphoma. Though highly treatable, the disease abruptly shifted her life for the next six months. She spent the next few days in her childhood bedroom, repeatedly asking, “Why me?”

Who gets diagnosed with cancer when they’re only 20 years old?

The infusion chair

Robinson’s first round of chemotherapy went without a hitch. She slept well that night and felt amazing the day after. But later, the side effects became unbearable. Her third dose brought fever-like symptoms — muscle aches, cramping and shivers — and landed her in the emergency room.

Managing her symptoms became all-consuming. She’d get to the hospital at 8 a.m. every other Friday and not leave until almost 5 p.m. At home, her parents would inject steroids every six hours until they could stop on Sunday.

Robinson decided to finish the semester, despite a demanding courseload of prerequisites for the nursing degree she is now completing. Monday through Thursday she’d attend class in person when possible, reserving every other Friday for day-long infusions. Against all odds, she ended the semester with a 4.0 GPA.

Click the link below to read more about Caroline's journey.

 Cheers!

Donna

Former cancer patient will graduate from nursing school | UNC-Chapel Hill

Suzanne Fink, MSN, RN goes from "wheels to heels" as she works as a nurse with dystonia

"Suzanne Fink, MSN, RN, often compares herself to Ariel in “The Little Mermaid.” Like Ariel, she experienced a sudden loss of her voice. And like her, she also had it restored – only not by magic, but rather through the expert care of Cleveland Clinic’s Voice Center."

"Throughout her life, Suzanne, a nurse at Cleveland Clinic, has faced challenges from a movement disorder known as early onset childhood dystonia, which causes involuntary muscle contractions and spasms."

“Everything always took me longer,” she says. “I had a lot of ambition and goals, but chronic illness is an uphill climb.” Her physical condition varies from day to day, allowing her to walk or putting her in a wheelchair. “Some people think I have a twin because I go from wheels to heels,” she jokes.

"Even with these difficulties, after graduating from Kent State University with a bachelor’s in healthcare administration and still dreaming of a nursing career, she began as a service relations coordinator at Cleveland Clinic. The timing was perfect — shortly thereafter, the organization announced an onsite program to train nurses. With the support of her supervisor, she worked days and went to school every night, graduating in 2007. Since then, she has had a successful and varied career, including as a neonatal nurse and a flight nurse. In February, she returned from over a year in London, where she was helping Cleveland Clinic to establish a new hospital. She now works as a lead systems analyst in Nursing Informatics."

“I wanted to attempt something new by going abroad with my wheelchair and crutches. I’m always in the mindset of seeking to push boundaries and do new things.”

 Read more about Suzanne at:

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/patient-stories/455-voice-center-helps-nurse-with-dystonia-speak-again

Cheers!

Donna

Experiences of d/Deaf nurses in the United Kingdom

 

Deafness is a common disability in the UK. It affects one in three adults, and many nurses have hearing loss when they enter the profession or develop it during their career. A systematic approach to a narrative literature review was conducted, reviewing available articles about the experiences of d/Deaf nurses. This revealed that they may face many challenges in the workplace, such as discrimination, environmental challenges and barriers to communication.

 However, d/Deaf nurses may possess additional skills that make them an asset to the workplace, such as adaptability, lip-reading and empathy for patients with disabilities. Considering both the high prevalence of deafness and the shortage of NHS nurses, it is critical to support the recruitment and retention of d/Deaf nurses at the start of, and throughout, their career.

Read more at:

Tanner C (2026) D/deaf nurses’ workplace experiences, barriers and skills. Nursing Times; 122: 7.

The following links will take you to a pdf of the article along with  a guide for the article to be used with a journal club.

260720-d_Deaf-nurses-workplace-experiences-barriers-and-skills.pdf

Journal-club.docx

Cheers!

Donna

Significant wage gaps between nurses with and without disabilities found in the United States

 

"Health Affairs Scholar" published the results of a study of wage gaps between nurses with and without disabilities in the United States.

"This study analyzed cross-sectional data from the 2008-2023 American Community Survey (ACS) among working-age (20-65 years old) employed nurses. Nurses self-identified as Registered Nurses (RNs) or Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (APRNs): Nurse practitioners, Nurse anesthetists, and Nurse midwives. An individual was considered disabled if they answered yes to any of the 6 ACS disability questions (Appendix 1). Linear regressions estimated outcomes (logged annual and hourly wages and total hours worked annually) as a function of disability, adjusting for age, sex, race/ethnicity, year, and state-by-metropolitan area fixed effects. We conducted subgroup analyses by occupation (RNs vs APRNs), age-group, and disability type. All models included robust standard errors and incorporated ACS survey weights and complex survey design."

"The analytic sample included 473 850 employed nurses, with 17 425 (weighted, 3.5%) reporting a disability. See Table S1 in Appendix 2 for sample characteristics. The most common disability types were mobility (23.9%) and hearing (22.1%) disabilities. Employed, working-age nurses with disabilities were older, on average, than those without disabilities (mean age: 48.6 vs 42.6, respectively). The top industries where nurses with and without disabilities worked were overall similar (ie, hospitals, outpatient care centers, and nursing facilities), though a smaller proportion of disabled nurses (55.1%) worked in hospitals than non-disabled nurses (63.7%)."

"In adjusted analyses, disabled nurses earned 12.2% lower annual wages (95% CI, −13.6 to −10.8; P < 0.001) and 7.4% lower hourly wages (95% CI, −8.3 to −6.5; P < 0.001), and worked 27 fewer hours annually than non-disabled nurses. Wage differences between nurses with and without disabilities remained significant after adjusting for total hours worked (Table 1). Models that additionally adjusted for industry (job location) showed similar estimates for primary outcomes (see Table S2 in Appendix 2)."

"Overall, these findings point to wide disability-based wage gaps within the largest U.S. healthcare workforce. As more nurses enter the workforce with disabilities or acquire them with age or the physical demands of the job,³ policy and organizational changes to foster disability-inclusive workplaces are essential to improve retention, equity, and patient care.^4"

Please visit:

Laurin Bixby, K Jane Muir, Michelle Kephart, Mihir Kakara, Wage gaps between US nurses with and without disabilities, Health Affairs Scholar, Volume 4, Issue 7, July 2026, qxag161, https://doi.org/10.1093/haschl/qxag161

Wage gaps between US nurses with and without disabilities to read the complete article.

Cheers!

Donna

Care at Shriners Hospital enabled patient with cerebral palsy to become a NICU nurse

Vanessa was born at 28 weeks. She spent 154 days in the NICU after being diagnosed with a significant brain bleed. While she developed into a bright, fully functioning toddler, her body struggled to keep up.

“I didn’t take my first steps until I was two and a half,” Vanessa said.

That delay led to a referral to Shriners Children’s in 1998 when she was 2. There, she was diagnosed with spastic diplegic cerebral palsy affecting her lower extremities.

Despite the difficulties, Vanessa holds some of her best childhood memories from Shriners Children’s – swimming in the therapy pool, playing basketball with a visiting Sacramento Kings player and the overwhelming sense of support.

“Shriners Children’s made me feel happy even when I felt sorry for myself,” she said. “It is one of a kind, and it totally made me the nurse I am today.”

That nursing path was intentional. Though she once dreamed of being a surgeon, she realized nurses are the backbone of the hospital, providing the crucial face-to-face support for families. She and her now-wife moved to Arizona for nursing school, navigating their education through the COVID-19 pandemic, where Vanessa gained frontline experience as a certified nursing assistant in a COVID unit.

Today, she has achieved her dream job: working as a NICU nurse at a top-level hospital in the Pacific Northwest, caring for the most premature infants.

“I chose the NICU because prematurity is a top risk factor for developing a disability like CP,” Vanessa said. “Having been a NICU baby myself, and hearing what my mom went through as a single parent, I wanted to provide the same support and compassion for my patients that UC Davis and Shriners gave us.”

For her, the work is deeply personal and preventative.

“Reading my own old medical records, I see how far NICU medicine has come. Now, we’re on the frontline protecting these preemie babies. It’s a privilege and an honor.”

Read more about Vanessa at: 

https://www.shrinerschildrens.org/en/news-and-media/patient-stories/2026/02/vanessa-cerebral-palsy-care

Cheers!

Donna

Support for nursing faculty with disabilities and chronic illness is needed

 

Cross, Lisa PhD, RN, CNE, CRRN, CHPN; Coombs Delis, Pamela PhD, RN, CNE. Supporting Nurse Faculty Who Have Disability and Chronic Illness. Nurse Educator ():10.1097/NNE.0000000000002187, May 25, 2026. | DOI: 10.1097/NNE.0000000000002187 

Cheers!

Donna