Nurse Reporter Fall 2008 - Wyoming State Board of Nursing

Rose Rennell, RN, MS, COHN EmployeeHealth Nurse, Campbell County MemorialHospital, Gillette, Wyo.A Rose is Not Just a RoseRose Rennell, RN, MS, COHNI am a nurse. I have always been a nurse.Even in childhood, when playing withneighborhood friends, I was the nurse bandagingimaginary wounds. I officially beganmy nursing career as a licensed practicalnurse in 1978. I moved to Gillette, Wyo., in1980. I had to wait for the associate degreenursing program to come to the Gillettecampus to continue towards my goal ofbeing a registered nurse. By the time theprogram was ready to accept students, mycredits were too old to transfer. I was ableto earn credits by challenging many of thecourses and clinical requirements, but I stillhad to repeat some classes. As a mother oftwo growing children, maintaining full timeemployment with benefits was essential, soI completed most of the courses by takingnight classes. I enrolled in one or twoclasses a semester until I was accepted intothe associate degree program in January of1989.It was during fall break, Octoberof that year, that my children (now youngteenagers) and I went to Rapid City tospend time with my family. We started ourreturn to Gillette on Sunday evening. Theweather turned colder, forming black ice onthe highway. As we passed the exit of Sundance,Wyo., my little Chevy S-10 pickuptook a sudden slide sideways, landed in theditch, and rolled over onto the roof. I wasthrown partially out of the window. Thetruck rolled across my chest and dumped meface down in the ditch. This shattered myT4 and fractured T5 and T7. Thankfully,my children sustained only minor injuries.At that point, only two months fromgraduation, my world changed. I had a newname, T4 complete paraplegic.My co-workers, fellow students,instructors and friends never wavered intheir support. My rehabilitation includedmore than the physical preparation for mynew life. I was determined to finish my RN.With the help of a fellow nursing studentsending me typed lecture notes weekly andGillette campus instructors creating clinicalrotations, I did finish and graduated May1990. My focus on completing my nursingdegree kept me looking forward.The hospital where I had workedfor nine years did not know what to do withme. The idea of an RN in a wheelchair wasthinking way outside the box, and I kepthearing terms like “patient safety” and “bedsideaccessibility.” Our Infection Controlnurse, always the visionary, stepped forwardand proposed a new position called EmployeeHealth nurse. This would be a nursewho concentrated on meeting the healthand safety needs of the staff and has knowledgeof the Occupational Safety and HealthAdministration (OSHA) and Centers forDisease Control and Prevention (CDC)requirements. I continue to hold this position,and it has proven to be challengingand extremely rewarding. I now take care ofthe staff that took care of me. Believe mewhen I say there is nothing “cushy” about a“desk job.”I continued my education thanksto the support and encouragement frommy manager. I completed my Bachelor ofScience Degree in Nursing through the Universityof Wyoming’s RN to BSN programin 1997 and my Master of Science Degreealso from UW in 2002. I achieved nationalcertification in Occupational Health Nursingin 2001.Along the way, I met a mixture of supportand resistance for nursing from a wheelchair.Stereotypic attitudes are like blinders, preventingthe person from being seen beyondthe disability. I mostly ignore the doubtersand work around them. I have confidencein what I can do and know my limitations.The real beauty of nursing is the vast careerfields that are available. Bedside nursing isnot the only game in town.My disability has given me an insight tothe long lasting effects an injury can haveon the individual, the family, and financialstability. Workplace safety and preventionof work-related injuries is one of the mostimportant functions of my position. Whenan injury does occur, job accommodation isa viable option to keep the valued, skilledworker on the job. This is better for theemployer and the employee. If nothing else,I want to be living proof that working with adisability can be a win-win situation.