For Black History Month we celebrate the achievements of nurses with disabilities

Cassandra Dobson, DNSc, MSN, BSN

As a child, Cassandra Dobson was hospitalized in a severe sickle cell crisis. She recalls talking with God and saying, Get me out of this big guy and I'll become a nurse! 

And, that is exactly what she did. She became a nurse, professor, author and tireless, award winning advocate for patients with sickle cell disease. She is also an advisory board member of the Queens Sickle Cell Advocacy Network. 
https://exceptionalnurse.blogspot.com/2016/09/sickle-cell-disease-results-in-promise.html

Andrea Dalzell, RN, BSN

Andrea Dalzell, Ms Wheelchair New York and disability advocate became a nurse. "Whether it was passing finals with the highest grades, receiving exemplary feedback from patients’ families or simply figuring out a way to accomplish her daily responsibilities from her chair, Dalzell has done more than just show she can be a nurse; she has proven she can be an excellent one."

https://exceptionalnurse.blogspot.com/2018/04/andrea-dalzell-ms-wheelchair-new-york.html

Kim Ketter, RN and Shaun Rivers, RN

Kim Ketter and Shaun Rivers are twins and nurses from Richmond, Virginia.They were diagnosed with cardiomyopathy and heart failure at 40 years of age. They both serve as Heart Failure Ambassadors with the American Heart Association. 
https://supportnetwork.heart.org/special-forums/heart-failure-ambassadors/kim-ketter-and-shaun-rivers/

Helen Lindsey, BSN

"Living life as a Quadruple amputee has been amazing. God is using me for this journey to help others. 25 years as a Amputee. Still standing."

Helen lost her arms and legs to bacterial meningitis but not her passion for helping others. She is an Army veteran who received her BSN from Winston-Salem State University.

She is working toward getting her nursing license back. Helen will be the first student in the state's nursing re-entry program to have a disability to this extent.

https://exceptionalnurse.blogspot.com/2017/05/helen-lindsey-bsn-quadruple-amputee.html

Kellye Nelson, RN, BS

Kellye Nelson was identified with a severe hearing loss at the age of two."With the help of hearing aids, she attended mainstream schools in Montgomery County, MD. Nelson received a master’s degree in Public Health from the University of Michigan and a B.S. in Nursing from Johns Hopkins University...Nelson is a Nurse Clinician at Johns Hopkins Hospital and also is a clinical instructor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing".
http://www.rit.edu/ntid/healthcare/stories/kellye-nelson

Latisha Anderson, RN

 Latisha Anderson calls herself an “RN on wheels,” a healer who uses a wheelchair, a caretaker who rolls among the sick. Skeptics told her she would never make it as a paraplegic nurse – turning patients, drawing blood and navigating the fast-moving stress of a hospital without a working set of legs. 
But Anderson surprised them. She finished nursing school. She found work in psychiatric units, a veterans hospital and a senior center. She earned her graduate degree online and drove to Arizona by herself, collecting her diploma while seated in her manual TiLite. Read more here: https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/article14510942.html#storylink=cpy

Bravo to all of these nurses!  They will be part of history...

Cheers!

Donna