stethoscope for severe hearing loss

Nurses Uniform/Gear

Published

I am very concerned. I have always had hearing loss but in the past year it has gotten very bad. I have severe loss in my right ear and moderate in my left. I am now wearing bilateral hearing aids. (I have always had to wear a hearing aid in my right ear). It is getting harder and harder to hear blood pressure. I keep having to have another nurse check me. It is getting embarrassing. I am an LPN by the way. I have an older electronic adscope which isn't always doing the trick right now. I am also about to starting nursing school for my RN. I am done with my pre-req's. I am very concerned about hearing lung sounds. I am crying and losing sleep over it. It seems silly but I would hate to come this far and not get my RN because of my hearing loss. Does anybody have severe hearing loss or know anybody who does who could give me advice? Is there a stethoscope I could use that would be better? It is breaking my heart. I am going to see an ENT but apparently my hearing loss is do to calcium deposits and there is nothing that can be done. I have searched older posts but most people have mild hearing loss or the thread is very old and the links are out of service. Thank you so much. Colleen

Specializes in Peri-op/Sub-Acute ANP.

Colleen,

Sorry about the distress this is causing you. Although I can't recommend anything from personal experience, I have a friend who is a PA who has what he describes as bad hearing loss. Now whether his loss is worse or better than you, who can tell. What I do know is that he invested quite a lot of money in a new Littman electronic scope that can apparently magnify the sounds to a level he can hear. Try to find a supplier close to you that will let you try one. That's the only thing I can recommend, but I do wish you look. You have to figure that there is SOMETHING out there that can help you, you just have to find it.

Specializes in Med Surg, ER, OR.

http://www.allheart.com/electronic-stethoscopes.html

LOOK HERE FOR SOME GOOD SUGGESTIONS ABOUT STETHOSCOPES!

Metfan,

I am in the same position as you only a few years later but I was wondering what you ended up getting and how your hearing loss has affected your job performance. I am currently in the RN program and have few concerns about my ability to perform these tasks that involve the stethoscope. Your opinions and suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

I am happy to say I am now a working RN. I work at my local hospital in the med surg unit. I chose a Littmann 3100 electronic stethoscope. It is great. It was expensive but worth it. As I got more comfortable with my skills, I seem to hear better. I don't really hear better but as my skills get better I know what to listen for and feel like I actually hear better. I don't know if that makes sense. School was the toughest because I was so unsure of what I was listening for. Especially, lung sounds. Now that I am working, I have no problems. If I have a hard time hearing anything, I have wonderful coworkers to rely on. Most patients don't even know I wear hearing aids until I take them off to use my stethoscope. Hope this helps. Colleen

+ Add a Comment