I read "Positions Wanted: Nurses with Disabilities" (Viewpoint, March) with great interest. I'm a critical care nurse with 20 years' experience, and I was disabled two years ago because of a catastrophic illness. I spent three months in a coma, four months on a ventilator, and nearly six months in a hospital. Not only did I lose my job, I lost my health insurance, life insurance, and retirement savings-along with 70% of my hearing (as a result of antimicrobial therapy).

After two years away from the clinical setting, I felt under-used as a nurse and as a member of society. I renewed my advanced cardiac life support certification, took some continuing education classes in critical care, bought an amplified stethoscope, and asserted my intention to continue working in critical care. I now work through a local registry and am very content with my job.

My point: disabled people cannot be discriminated against if they're qualified for a particular position. Employers are not allowed to ask whether job candidates are disabled until they've been offered a job. They also can't require job candidates to undergo a medical examination that differs from one that's required for all applicants.

I wear hearing aids, and I tell my coworkers to speak to me directly so that I can read their lips. I'm able to hear most of the sounds I need to hear to do my work, and if necessary I place myself in the patient's room or directly outside the door. I also inform my patients when I need to remove my hearing aids to use my stethoscope. I have had no complaints about my performance.

Nurses must be their own advocates. We face a critical shortage, and qualified nurses shouldn't be turned down for employment simply because their situations require a little creativity.

Stand up for yourselves. Society will only benefit from your willingness to face adversity.

Kim Porter, RN

Homeland, CA