Showing your respect to the Deaf patient

Nurses General Nursing

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Hello, members of Allnurses.com. I'm posting to educate willing nurses about Deaf culture and how you, as a nurse, can deliver culturally sensitive care to the Deaf and deaf patient.

Let me begin by clarifying the most widely misconstrued understanding of deafness. There are two types of of hearing impaired patients, they are either deaf or Deaf. Let me define each for you.

deaf--An inability to hear or comprehend sound.

Deaf--A historic cultural heritage that has long fought battle after battle to be seen as equally intelligent as the hearing population.

From this point onward we understand that Deaf is a cultural heritage while deaf is the inability to hear. It is important that you do not confuse the two and place the capital 'D' where it is due. Not capitalizing the 'D' when referring to a member of the Deaf culture in writing is considered rude and disrespectful. As a nurse, I would expect you hold on to the professionalism of being a culturally sensitive licensed health care provider.

Further clarification is needed when it comes to sign language, English sign language, and American Sign Language. Let me again elucidate the differences.

Sign language--A mixture of body language and hand gestures used to communicate in a nonverbal, incoherent manner. Sign language is not a language in itself, but is used by unschooled deaf children and their parents, especially in older days.

English sign language--A form of sign language used to teach American Deaf children the English grammar and principles of the English language in American schools for the deaf.

American Sign Language (ASL)--A recognized and coherent language used especially in the United States and Canada by the Deaf community and those who wish to communicate with them. ASL has its own rules of grammar that are quite similar to French Sign Language, which it was built off of.

At this stage we can now distinct the three forms of sign languages used in the United States and hopefully apply them to the right Deaf or deaf patient.

Now I feel it's the right time to discuss how a nurse can properly care for a deaf patient while showing respect to his or her culture. Let's begin by placing emphasis on how important it is to make sure your patient can comprehend your words. If your patient cannot understand what you are saying, you are wasting both his and your time. If you know that a patient is deaf or Deaf, it is in your role to make sure an ASL or Esl interpretor is available for him. Do not begin discussing his health care until the certified interpretor has arrived and is ready to begin. Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, it is illegal not to provide an interpretor upon patient's request unless one is not available. If one is available, however, the ADA mandates that the service be paid for by the health care faculty. Should an interpretor not be available or the deaf patient is not fluent in ASL/Esl, there are only two lesser options that can be used to substitute for the interpreter. The first would be to communicate with the patient through writing, the second would be to type on a computer screen so that the patient can follow you 100%. Not making an attempt to properly accommodate the patient's disability is a civil crime and can be tried in a court of law. A Deaf person should never have to be put through the stress of begging you to write what you are saying down. It is patient negligence and incredibly disrespectful. The patient cannot hear you no matter how loud you speak or how slow you move your lips. This is the number one complaint of deaf patients. Do not continue this cycle of patient abuse.

Please remember that some hearing impaired people were either mainstreamed into public schools as a child, or were not formally schooled at all. Some, like myself, only spent a little time in a deaf school, but still played a major role in Deaf culture. It is immensely important that people understand that Deaf people do not want to be pitied or considered disabled. To them, being a part of the Deaf culture is a beautiful gift from God and we, as nurses, should respect that.

very interesting and true! My little sister is deaf and has been in and out of the hospital the past month and she feels neglected and feels like she is avoided because she is deaf. In her words I am deaf not dumb- she has had people screaming at the top of their lungs trying to communicate- and feels that no extra effort is made and people only come in to check on her at a minimum, such as when she presses the call light. I didnt know the fact about the lower case d and upper case D which is very interesting. I feel that alot emphasis is placed on learning cultures and how to be culturally aware of people and assisting the blind in school but there was absolutely NOTHING learned about how to work with a deaf patient(it comes second nature to me lol so i didnt even realise until you posted this that we did not go over it in school or clinicals). Kudos to you for bringing up this, because Im sure many people arent aware of how to handle situations where communicating with the deaf and treating them as normal people is necessary!

Specializes in Med/Surg.

Thank you for an incredibly educating and informative post. I had no idea about Deaf culture, and the differences between Sign language, English sign language, and American sign language. Thank you for giving me the tools to be a more compassionate and culturally sensitive nurse. :D:D

Allright, I hope this isn't disrespectful...honestly, I don't mean it to be....

One of the funniest lines ever (in my opinion) in a movie is from "See no Evil, Hear no Evil" where Gene Wilder (a Deaf man) and Richard Pryor (a Blind man) are being interrogated by an ignorant police man.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rlt23LWM6jQ

"Because he's Deaf not stupid"

Yup...gets me everytime

Back to the original post...I've been guilty of raising my voice in an attempt to be heard by the Deaf and I have felt embarrassed because of it. Nothing quite like a sweet little old lady shaking her head at you and saying "Honey, yelling doesn't help."

very interesting and true! My little sister is deaf and has been in and out of the hospital the past month and she feels neglected and feels like she is avoided because she is deaf. In her words I am deaf not dumb- she has had people screaming at the top of their lungs trying to communicate- and feels that no extra effort is made and people only come in to check on her at a minimum, such as when she presses the call light. I didnt know the fact about the lower case d and upper case D which is very interesting. I feel that alot emphasis is placed on learning cultures and how to be culturally aware of people and assisting the blind in school but there was absolutely NOTHING learned about how to work with a deaf patient(it comes second nature to me lol so i didnt even realise until you posted this that we did not go over it in school or clinicals). Kudos to you for bringing up this, because Im sure many people arent aware of how to handle situations where communicating with the deaf and treating them as normal people is necessary!

I'd strongly encourage you to familiarize yourself with the Americans with Disabilities Act so you can understand your sister's right and advocate for them.

Best of luck. I know how she feels. It's heart breaking.

Thank you for an incredibly educating and informative post. I had no idea about Deaf culture, and the differences between Sign language, English sign language, and American sign language. Thank you for giving me the tools to be a more compassionate and culturally sensitive nurse. :D:D

Thank me by making sure every deaf and Deaf patient under your care is treated fairly and with respect. :)

Allright, I hope this isn't disrespectful...honestly, I don't mean it to be....

One of the funniest lines ever (in my opinion) in a movie is from "See no Evil, Hear no Evil" where Gene Wilder (a Deaf man) and Richard Pryor (a Blind man) are being interrogated by an ignorant police man.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rlt23LWM6jQ

"Because he's Deaf not stupid"

Yup...gets me everytime

Back to the original post...I've been guilty of raising my voice in an attempt to be heard by the Deaf and I have felt embarrassed because of it. Nothing quite like a sweet little old lady shaking her head at you and saying "Honey, yelling doesn't help."

Don't beat yourself up over it. Just try to make improvements in patient communication.

Specializes in Education, FP, LNC, Forensics, ED, OB.

I am fluent in ASL. Have used this in my practice for years. Also, in my practice I developed the guidelines for those who were hearing-impaired as well as P/P for the Deaf community (a large community at that).

I agree that as nurses, we need to be aware of what is available in our hospitals and clinics as we care for these individuals.

Being almost completely deaf in my right ear, I can relate to a lack of assistance.

Thank you for the thread, Inspired by Silence. Admirable...

Specializes in Med-Surg, Tele, DOU.

Thank you for posting your concerns and articulating them as clearly as possible. We just had a situation where I work that involved this issue. The client was not only deaf, but also very forgetful with some sundowners. I work nights. What an event I had trying to communicate with her. Even for being 80years old, this woman was patient with my fingerspelling, helped me with some of my signing.

Oh how I wanted an interpreter, however, that was a "no go" for the night-shift.

Of course, inside my head, I'm thinking you're kidding right? In spoken language, I asked if we would be able to obtain an interpreter as she really needed someone who could communicate with her easily. The response I received was "no". Not a loud rude obnoxious denial by any means. Just a "no".

Since then, I have been considering going back to college to obtain that coveted first degree I was pursuing anyway, Deaf Education. I will never regret becoming a nurse. It was my correct path, I know. However, I am seeing that ASL still remains very much a desire of my soul, and apparently a necessity in the life of a nurse for me.

Again thank you for posting this important topic.

Specializes in Psychiatric.

Great post!! I REALLY want to go back to school to take classes in ASL...I feel it would be helpful for me and my patients! Thanks for sharing this information with us.

Great post-very informative. As with any language, ASL must be practiced regularly...

Specializes in LTC, Memory loss, PDN.

Very informative and helpful article. I did stumble a bit though:"It is immensely important that people understand that Deaf people do not want to be pitied or considered disabled. - Not making an attempt to properly accommodate the patient's disability is a civil crime and can be tried in a court of law."

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