Deaf Nursing Student Faced Doubts—Now She’s Overcoming the Odds With a Cochlear Implant

From gold medalist Olympians to an LPN working towards her RN, Nurse.org has been proud to put a spotlight on hearing-impaired nurses working to achieve their goals. Just like hearing nurses, deaf and hearing-impaired nurses face challenges in their nursing journeys, with a few added twists and turns along the way.

Nursing student Celia O'Leary, 22, from Arlington, VA, who was born with hearing issues but recently experienced a significant drop in her hearing abilities that required a cochlear implant, tells Nurse.org that while it took some time for her to decide to go to nursing school, once her mind was made up, there was no stopping her. 

"At one point, someone asked me how I was going to become a nurse with hearing loss, and my response was simple," O'Leary reports. "I said, 'Watch me.'"

Born to Be Different

O'Leary failed her newborn hearing test as a baby, which kicked off her lifelong journey as a hearing-impaired person. She explains that for most of her life, her hearing was manageable, but last year, her hearing decreased to the point that she became a candidate for a cochlear implant. 

The implant was placed in April 2025, a moment that O'Leary explains, "became a major turning point for me both personally and professionally. "

"Getting my cochlear implant was life-changing. It didn’t just improve my ability to hear; it gave me confidence. It allowed me to fully engage in conversations and function in environments that used to feel overwhelming, especially in clinical settings where communication is so important. It made me feel more capable of pursuing the career I truly wanted."

If you're not familiar with how a cochlear implant works, O'Leary—like the true future nurse she is—breaks it down, explaining that it doesn't restore hearing in a typical way. Instead, a cochlear implant sends signals straight to the auditory nerve. The result is hearing that is completely different than what O'Leary experienced before, to the point that she says it even took some getting used to. 

"But it’s made a huge difference," she notes. "I’m able to understand speech better, communicate with patients and staff, and feel a lot more confident in clinical settings."

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On Becoming a Nurse: 'Watch Me'

Speaking of clinical settings, when deciding on her future career path, O'Leary initially thought she would pursue audiology because of her own hearing experiences, but she eventually realized that she's drawn to fast-paced, high-pressure environments that allow her to jump in and help immediately. 

"I’ve always had what people describe as the mind of a first responder," she tells Nurse.org. "I stay calm and take action when things get intense."

She adds that her grandfather saw her potential for nursing long before she did, but once she realized he was right, there was no going back. 

"My grandfather always told me I would make a great nurse, but I didn’t fully consider it until I recognized that this kind of environment is exactly where I thrive," she says. 

Unlike her grandfather, there were some naysayers who doubted O'Leary's ability to become a nurse successfully because of her hearing impairment. But that didn't stop her. 

"At one point, someone asked me how I was going to become a nurse with hearing loss, and my response was simple," she explains. "I said, 'watch me.'"

Now, We're All Watching

We're all definitely watching and cheering for O'Leary in her journey to become a nurse. After worrying about the competitive nature of nursing school, O'Leary even says she "went a little overboard" and applied to 25 different nursing schools, just in case.

"I ended up getting into 24 of them, which was reassuring," she laughs. 

Today, she's in her third clinical rotation, pediatrics, which she loves, and will graduate next May. Her days revolve around classes, studying, clinical rotations, and, for extra money, babysitting too. 

"Nursing school is demanding, so I’m constantly balancing coursework, hands-on learning, and work, but it’s also really rewarding," she notes. 

As far as her hearing impairment goes, O'Leary relies on assistance from her cochlear implant, lip-reading skills, and a Bluetooth-enabled stethoscope that connects directly to her implant. She's also learned to adapt with needed skills for nursing, like navigating fast-paced clinical environments where multiple people are talking at once. 

"It can be overwhelming, but it has pushed me to become more adaptable and focused," she adds. "I’ve developed strong communication strategies and learned how to advocate for myself while staying fully engaged in patient care."

She even sees her cochlear implant as an added strength, not a hindrance, to her nursing abilities. 

"Having a cochlear implant doesn’t limit me; it gives me a different perspective that actually makes me a stronger nurse," she notes. "I understand how important communication and patient-centered care are, and that allows me to connect with patients on a deeper level."

After graduation, O'Leary plans to continue her work in the pediatric ICU or ER and become a pediatric RN with her sights even set on becoming a flight nurse in the future. She encourages her pediatric patients to ask questions about her implant and calls it her "bionic ear." 

I love teaching them about it," she explains. "One little girl I babysit even likes to take it off and put it back on. Moments like that are a big reason why I want to go into pediatric nursing."

No matter what happens in the future, the nursing student says she is proud of herself for working to achieve her goals, no matter what any naysayer may say. 

"I’m proud of the fact that I’m here doing it," she says. "Being in nursing school, succeeding in clinical environments, and proving to myself that I can handle it means a lot to me."

🤔 Nurses, what do you think about this story? Tell us in the comments!