Nursing Program Essential Functions

Auditory

1. Interpret monitoring devices
2. Distinguish muffled sounds heard through a stethoscope
3. Hear and discriminate high and low frequency sounds produced by the
   body and the environment
4. Effectively hear to communicate with others

All during grammar, middle, and high school I took those hearing and eye tests. And I failed every single hearing test. I began to dread these tests because I knew I would fail. I knew there was sound that I should be hearing that I wasn't. It wasn't until my sophomore year in high school was it recommended that I go and get a professional opinion. It so happened that a man that attended Sycamore church of Christ with me was the head guy over NIU's Speech-Language-Hearing Clinic. So he made sure that I got tested and even sat in on it to make sure everything went right. So my hearing loss was moderate in a particular speech frequency. Come to find out it explained why by 9pm every night I was completely wiped out and could barely finish my homework. I was using extra energy to compensate for what I couldn't hear so that I could understand what people were saying. We bought a state of the art Phonak Digitally Programmable In-the-Ear Hearing Aid that came with a handy dandy remote control. Life improved. I had more energy. I broke several and thankfully warranty (and extended warranties) helped cover me. When I moved to Alabama I got out of the habit of wearing hearing aids. For a long time they didn't sit in their air-tight container so they don't work as well having been exposed to moisture in the air. That may be another reason why I stopped wearing them.

In my anatomy and physiology class we did a lab that used a stethoscope. They weren't the nicest ones, but we took each other's blood pressure. Well, I couldn't hear it. But I could watch the dial and find out. When I told my lab partner I couldn't hear it because I had a hearing loss he said, "You have a hearing loss and you wanna be a nurse?" That was the first time it dawned on me that I might have a problem. I am certainly not disabled. I perform well in the classroom setting.

So this essential function form is the second one that a physician and I have to sign. And it bothers me. But I found this great site. Association of Medical Professionals with Hearing Losses. They have a good article about "How to Cope with Scopes" I am beginning to see that it is more than possible to be a great nurse and still have a hearing loss. Maybe I'll write a book about it!