Andrea Dalzell is an American nurse, disability rights activist, and content creator. Dalzell is the first wheelchair-using registered nurse in the state of New York and advocates for disabled healthcare workers on social media.
Early life and education
Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York,[1] Dalzell was diagnosed with transverse myelitis at age 5.[2] Throughout childhood, she would alternately use a wheelchair, a walker, and crutches, and started using a wheelchair fulltime by the age of 12.[1]
Dalzell earned two degrees, one in biology and one in neuroscience, from the College of Staten Island.[3] Originally interested in medical school, Dalzell switched to nursing after realizing that "doctors treat the Disease and I never wanted to look at someone as a disease, but as a whole person. Nurses do that and that’s where my mindset shifted to nursing".[4] Dalzell was awarded her Bachelor of Science in Nursing and became a registered nurse in 2018.[5]
Career and advocacy
Any person, with any type of disability can be a nurse. The misconception comes with the fact that with a disability means you’re incapable. Every single person’s ability is different. What I am able to do at my injury level, may not be another person’s ability at the same level.
After becoming a registered nurse, Dalzell applied to, and was turned down for, 76 different as a clinical nurse positions.[6][7] She found work as both a school nurse and as a camp health director during this period.[8] In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic led to a high demand for nurses, and Dalzell landed a job as an ICU nurse based on her experience with ventilators.[2] Dalzell became the first wheelchair-using registered nurse in the state of New York.[9]
Dalzell cites multiple instances of being questioned on her qualification to perform as a clinical nurse, including "professors doubting her capabilities and the constant pressure to prove herself".[1][10] On social media, she is known as The Seated Nurse, and uses her platform to advocate for disabled healthcare workers.[2] She trains as a boxer to help build her strength for activities such as CPR.[3] Dalzell was asked by Apple Inc. to appear in a commercial for the Apple Watch, discussing how the watch has helped her physical training.[3]
Awards and honors
In 2015, Dalzell won the title of Ms. Wheelchair New York[11]