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Nurse
Uses Mentors to Reach Her Goals
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| Nursing
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| Hearing
Disabilities |
From
the time she was born, Molly Jenkins, R.N. of
Columbus, Indiana had people she could look to
for guidance. Hearing impaired since birth
due to a hereditary genetic hearing loss, Jenkins
had her mother, also hearing-impaired, as both
audiologist and mentor. Her mother
guided her through the process of acquiring her
first hearing aid when she was five, and her choice
to use bilateral aids later as her hearing grew
worse in college.
Having
a hearing-impaired mother in the health care field
made it an easy choice for Jenkins to pursue a career
in the field herself. Jenkins attended DePauw
University's School of Nursing and went on to become
a registered nurse. In the DePauw program,
Jenkins' main accommodations were simply the use
of her hearing aids and ensuring that she got herself
a front-row seat in class to enable her to better
lip-read the instructor. Jenkin's classmates
and instructors worked with her to clarify any information
that she missed. The director of the nursing
program allowed her to spend several hours with
a hearing impaired nurse during one of her clinical
experiences. This nurse, who worked in cardiac
care, acted as a mentor to Jenkins by giving her
"a boost of confidence in knowing that [her] goals
were attainable" and by showing her some adaptive
equipment that she used on the job. One such
device was an amplified digital stethoscope.
This battery-operated stethoscope can be set to
an individual's specific hearing needs. Jenkins
also took advantage of using written procedure instruction
handouts in conjunction with verbal instructions
when working with patients. This was key when
performing sterile procedures which may require
the use of masks. "I can actually hear better,
when I have something written to follow along with,"
she explained. She also experimented with
the use of an FM system, which is an amplification
system in which a speaker wears a microphone that
transmits his or her voice directly to a receiver
worn by a person with a hearing impairment. |
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After
graduating in 1993, Jenkins took a
position at Columbus Regional Hospital on a Medical/Surgical
floor. She chose her position carefully,
seeking a placement where her hearing wouldn't
affect her job performance. "I would not
allow myself to work in an area that I did not
consider safe. Because of my hearing impairment,
my reaction time would not be as quick, so I just
wouldn't be comfortable in an emergency room or
operating room setting."
Columbus Regional Hospital provided her with
an amplified stethoscope and a hearing aid compatable
phone. She started on the night shift on
Med/Surg, where she utilized lip reading and visual
cues to communicate and assess her patients.
"I could use the hall light or a bathroom light
at night if I needed to so I wouldn't have to
turn on the light right over the patient," she
explains. She found that her reliance on
visual communication as well as what the patient
told her allowed her to assess their status more
quickly and accurately than some of her hearing
colleagues. The nurses on her floor approached
their work as a team, and although they each had
specific patients, they were always available
to consult with each other. This was helpful
for Jenkins at times when she did not immediately
notice a sound. Jenkins, in turn, was often
called in to assist other nurses with difficult
or disruptive patients because of her skills with
visual communication and her ability to put patients
at ease.
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Jenkins
now works as a home services nurse out of the same
hospital. She spends about 80% of her day
caring for patients in their homes and feels that
this is a good match for her abilities. "I
get to work with patients one-on-one without any
distractions, such as call lights going off or doctors
and nurses running around," she says. Her
communication skills and her ability to pick up
on subtle visual and olfactory cues make her the
resident expert on assessing whether a new client's
home is a safe setting with which to provide home
health care. Jenkins patients, many of whom
are elderly and also hearing impaired, find her
easy to communicate with and a safe and comfortable
person to have in their homes. |
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Jenkins
tells her patients that she is hearing impaired
and has found only positive reactions. "I
think the patients are mostly curious and like to
be educated about my hearing impairment. They
want to learn more about it." Along with her
knowledge and friendly demeanor, Jenkins credits
her disability with her ability to put patients
at ease. "Doctors and nurses are often thought
of as being on a higher level. I think this
is because patients often feel a loss of control
when they are sick. They see me as a little
less than perfect, and they may see me as being
more real to them." |
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Jenkins
clearly believes that her hearing impairment brings
added value to the quality of the care she provides.
As mentors with hearing impairments in her own life
assisted her, she continues to advocate for others
with disabilities to pursue a career in health care.
"Go for it," she says, "you need to experiment and
be given a chance. You don't know the true
value of a disability until you are in the working
world." |
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