Twenty minutes into her nursing school orientation, Andrea Dalzell was told that she wouldn’t be allowed in the program. The reason: she used a wheelchair, and the school didn’t believe hospitals would accept her as a nurse. Dalzell went on to become a bedside nurse anyway, and her story is the focus of the latest Elite Learning podcast episode. Listen to the full conversation here.
Breaking into nursing with a disability
Dalzell’s path started young. Diagnosed with transverse myelitis at age five, she stopped walking by twelve and grew up surrounded by nurses and doctors. That early exposure eventually led her toward nursing itself, despite a school that initially refused to let her train.
She passed the NCLEX, entered the workforce, and found she was still steered toward desk roles rather than direct patient care, until Covid created an urgent need for nurses willing to work the floor.
Building frameworks that protect patients
Today, Dalzell runs a nonprofit called the Seated Standard, focused on building clinical frameworks for nurses with disabilities and the patients they serve. One example: patients with spinal cord injuries can face a life-threatening condition called autonomic dysreflexia, where a “normal” blood pressure reading is actually a red flag. Her frameworks push electronic health records to prompt nurses with the right questions automatically, so critical history doesn’t get missed during a routine visit.
Why access starts before nursing school
Dalzell’s advocacy doesn’t stop at the hospital door. Through her nonprofit’s other program, she works with students as early as high school, helping them secure accommodations in classes like chemistry and math long before they apply to a nursing program. She experienced this gap firsthand: a required organic chemistry lab lacked accessible fume hoods, not once, but twice, years apart.
What this means for the profession
Nurses with disabilities bring a perspective that textbooks can’t replicate. A few takeaways from Andrea’s podcast for the wider nursing community:
- Disability and diagnosis aren’t the same thing; patients live with both
- Nurses who’ve navigated their own accommodations often become sharper patient advocates
- Closing the door on nurses with disabilities also closes off insight the profession needs
Listen to Andrea Dalzell’s full story
Dalzell’s journey from being denied entry to nursing school to building national frameworks for patient safety offers a perspective every nurse can learn from. Hear the complete episode on the Elite Learning podcast.
