Justina Miles, Super Bowl performer, is deaf and a pre-nursing student

 

Justina Miles, a Bowie State University pre-nursing major, is the first woman who is black and deaf to sign during the Super Bowl halftime show.

According to an interview on "CBS Mornings" with Gayle King, Miles has some hearing. She is able to hear music but considered deaf based on audiologist measurements. 

Miles is training to be a nurse so she can advocate for deaf patients and lead the way for nurses who are deaf..... 

To learn more visit:

Justina Miles, deaf performer who went viral at Rihanna's Super Bowl halftime show, opens up in first interview since the game - CBS News

Justina Miles' Performance at the Super Bowl Goes Viral | Bowie State

Cheers!

Donna

"Gloves for Life" may help some nurses who use wheelchairs

 

Michael Franz from New Mobility posted a review of gloves made for wheelchair users by "Gloves for Life". The review included these comments:

"Debbie Riggsby, a C6-7 quad, and her husband, Zane, bought Gloves for Life from the original owner in 2013. They have dedicated the last decade to developing gloves that help quadriplegics and others with limited dexterity push better."

"I use power assist wheels and usually don’t wear gloves. Once I put the gloves on and started pushing, the difference was very noticeable. Pushing required much less effort, and even when I didn’t make good contact with the handrim, the wheel still propelled forward. Another benefit I noticed from wearing the gloves is that they helped when I had nerve pain in my hands. On bad pain days, I have more difficulty pushing, but the gloves seem to dampen the impact on my hands — and the pain." 

"On top of the pushing benefits, the gloves can be used as an adaptive cuff to hold items. For example, I put a fork through the thumb hole, similar to how one would use a universal cuff. It is not something I would do regularly, but if I forgot to bring my adaptive utensils with me, this would work in a pinch. I used the gloves to hold a pen, and while they won’t replace my adaptive writing splint, I can see the option coming in handy. The gloves also made it much easier to hold on to items like cups and to slide items across my desk. "

For more information, read the full article by Michael Franz and visit the Gloves for Life website.

Cheers!

Donna

https://newmobility.com/gloves-for-life-quad-friendly-gloves-shine/?mc_cid=f520220862&mc_eid=e249fd81b6

https://www.glovesforlife.com/

Tips for success for future nursing students with disabilities

 

Take a CPR class prior to the start of your nursing program. Learn  what to expect and if you need to ask for accommodation.

Practice!

Volunteer at a nursing home, assisted living or any available health care setting. Learn all you can. 

Practice!

Visit the College Office for Students with Disabilities. Talk to them about accommodations you may need.

Practice!

Take as many pre-requisites as you can prior to starting the nursing program. This will help to reduce your course load when nursing classes begin.

Go to summer school. 

If you can, take advantage of lower class fees at a community college. Make sure credits will be transferable.

A look back on 2022! Here are the top 5 Exceptional Nurse blog posts about nurses with disabilities.

 Listen up nurses with disabilities: You could be the next 

RaDonda Vaught

By now, most nurses know about the tragic story surrounding RaDonda Vaught, the Tennessee nurse found guilty of criminally negligent homicide in the death of patient. She was criminally prosecuted for a medical error. https://exceptionalnurse.blogspot.com/2022/04/listen-up-nurses-with-disabilities-you.html

5 Lessons learned from the RaDonda Vaught case from Nurse attorney Lorie Brown

Nurse attorney, Lorie Brown is the founder of EmpoweredNurses.org. In the following YouTube Channel video, she shares some excellent lessons learned from the RaDonda Vaught case. These lessons apply to all nurses. https://exceptionalnurse.blogspot.com/2022/04/5-lessons-learned-from-radonda-vaught.html

Nursing student with Brittle Bone Disease (OI) and her service dog from CCI will graduate from the University of Tampa

"Tampa native and University of Tampa nursing student Leigh Dittman is poised to graduate in May with honors. It's a credit to her studiousness and grit, and also to her loyal service dog, Nerf."  

Exceptional Nurse: Nursing student with Brittle Bone Disease (OI) and her service dog from CCI will graduate from the University of Tampa

Dani Hillenbrand, a wheelchair user, graduates from George Fox University College of Nursing in Oregon

"Last year, while she was already in nursing school, Hillenbrand suffered a catastrophic medical event that left her in a wheelchair. While many would be discouraged, Hillenbrand said it pushed her to work even harder." https://exceptionalnurse.blogspot.com/2022/06/dani-hillenbrand-wheelchair-user.html

Could Smart glasses help nurses with disabilities?

            

"Nurses at Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust are trialling the glasses. Nurses are to wear virtual reality-style goggles during home visits in a bid to cut paperwork and free up more time to spend with patients."https://exceptionalnurse.blogspot.com/2022/08/could-smart-glasses-help-nurses-with.html

Cheers and Happy New Year!

Donna

Researchers from the University of Dundee to begin work on designing a wheelchair-friendly lab coat

 

The Press Office of the University of Dundee announced that "By the end of the project, the team plan to make coats available in the campus shop, so that people who use a wheelchair can arrive on campus and go to their lab ready to start working with the same convenience as their course mates and colleagues. The team hope this study will be the first step towards a mass market off-the-peg wheelchair-friendly lab coat."

"But first, they are looking for people who would like to be involved in the project at the start. Cook explains: "the first and most important thing for us is finding people who use wheelchairs and work or study in labs to mentor us. That might involve talking about your experiences and frustrations, contributing your ideas to the design process and eventually adopting prototypes to try out in the lab."

If you’re interested in getting involved or would like to find out more, contact Dr. Melissa D’Ascenzio and Dr. Andrew Cook.

https://www.dundee.ac.uk/stories/researchers-start-work-designing-wheelchair-friendly-lab-coat

Cheers!

Donna

Nurses living with Lymphedema

 

                                         Catherine Holley, BSN, RN, CLT Nurse 

                                      Certified Lymphedema Therapist

"For 33 years, I have camouflaged my leg, remaining fairly private about it. Two years ago, as an operating room nurse in a busy Boston hospital, I cared for a patient who also had lymphedema; however, she’d never been seen by a specialist and did not know how to manage it. At that moment, I knew I needed to share my story with her and give her the resources for finding help. That experience really changed my life in accepting this crazy disease and the importance of spreading awareness" (Holley (2017, para 1). 

Holley, C. (2017). Welcome message from Massachusetts Chapter co-Chair. Retrieved on October 30, 2022 at Welcome message from Massachusetts Chapter co-Chair Catherine Holley, RN | Lymphatic Education & Research Network (lymphaticnetwork.org)

Living with Lymphedema: One Nurse's Journey as Patient and Advocate - YouTube

                                Rebecca Koszalinski, RN, PhD               

Dr. Koszalinski wrote about working with with a state Vocational Rehabilitation program as a nurse with lower limb lymphedema. 

"Your state vocational rehabilitation representative most likely won’t be a nurse or an expert on alternative nursing career paths. To them, a nurse is a nurse—period. That is why you need to help them help you. They can’t support your case unless they understand your goals and have documentation to support the plan. Be prepared for a lack of understanding and rejections. Again, it is not personal. Justification is not based on the number of years you have worked but on your physical condition and the probability that you will return to work if they support you(p.29)." 

Koszalinski, R. (2014) Navigating the Vocational Rehabilitation System: Nursing following injury and disability. In D.C. Maheady (Ed.) The Exceptional Nurse: Tales from the trenches of truly resilient nurses working with disabilities. (pp. 26-32). CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.

Ellen Szelina RN (retired)

 "After her 2011 treatment for breast cancer, she developed lymphedema in her left arm — severe, chronic swelling that sometimes occurs after lymph node removal or radiation treatment." 

"No matter how careful she was, Szelina’s lymphedema regularly triggered infections that were accompanied by a high fever and painful swelling in her arm and hand. Each time, she’d have to spend a few days in the hospital getting IV antibiotics."

"Then, in 2014, she read about David W. Chang, MD, chief of plastic and reconstructive surgery at the University of Chicago Medicine and a world-renowned lymphedema microsurgeon."

"Chang pioneered a unique, complex surgery for lymphedema patients that reroutes the lymphatic system around damaged lymph nodes." 

 "Her surgery in 2016 was successful, and Szelina is back to doing the things she loves. In June, she and her family rode mules down into the Grand Canyon — something she’d never dared to do before the surgery" (Bartosch, 2019).

Bartosch, J. (2019). Lymphedema microsurgery gives retired nurse her life back. U Chicago Medicine.

 Retrieved on 11/16/2022 at https://www.uchicagomedicine.org/forefront/cancer-articles/lymphedema-surgery-gives-retired-nurse-her-life-back

Cheers!

Donna

Nursing Times reports need for culture change regarding UK nurses and nursing students with disabilities

 

Megan Ford reports on an investigation by Nursing Times that found, "More must be done to stamp out unconscious bias and incorrect assumptions about nurses with a disability to ensure workplaces offer a “psychologically safe environment” where staff feel supported, enabled to thrive and can be open about their disabilities."

"More than 52,000 (3.7%) members of the health service workforce in England declared a disability via the NHS Electronic Staff Record in 2021. But a much higher percentage indicated they had a disability through the NHS Staff Survey in 2020, with 20.2% making a declaration."

"Another dataset, used in the annual Workforce Disability Equality Standard (WDES) report, showed the percentage of staff with a disability experiencing harassment, bullying or abuse at work was higher than for staff without a disability; in addition, 31% of staff with a disability felt pressure from their manager to go to work, despite feeling unwell."

"In most cases, their challenges would not come from their condition, but...from how society or employers treat people who share a condition or [have a disability],” she said. “It’s not about whether someone is a wheelchair user, it is about the attitude of those around them to ensure that they are included or have access.”

Read more about these important issues at:

https://www.nursingtimes.net/news/workforce/investigation-culture-change-needed-to-stamp-out-disability-stigma-04-11-2022/?fbclid=IwAR3yx8DXNBArcr4miczqaUCZTLoNMmBcNbBh6zbyOVT9GNBiVUjnZUH8lmg

Cheers!

Donna