C'Mon Now!

sergel02, BSN · Feb 2

Speaking of otoscopes, we're supposed to be getting some but I realized....I never learned how to use one. A lot of nursing schools never covered it either so many of us don't know.

I'll have to find some tutorials online.

k1p1ssk, BSN, RN · Feb 3

sergel02 said:

Speaking of otoscopes, we're supposed to be getting some but I realized....I never learned how to use one. A lot of nursing schools never covered it either so many of us don't know.

I'll have to find some tutorials online.

I found this post, which seemed to have some really good info: https://yourfavoriteschoolnursesays.school.blog/2023/02/15/assessment-basics-for-the-school-nurse-ears/

I do try to go over this when I have nursing students - the exams we do in health offices are so different from the type of assessment that is taught in nursing school.

The biggest tip I have to share is that when you are examining little ears, it is important to remember that their ear canals are not fully formed and are actually almost upside-down u shaped. So you need to insert the tip of the otoscope cover in at a slight upward angle at times and then actually pull back on the pinna of the ear to straighten out their ear canal. You then also need to sometimes move the otoscope around a little to be able to visualize the ear drum.

Good luck!

PS - It was just the lightbulb on my otoscope (Phew!).

sergel02, BSN · Feb 4

k1p1ssk said:

I found this post, which seemed to have some really good info: https://yourfavoriteschoolnursesays.school.blog/2023/02/15/assessment-basics-for-the-school-nurse-ears/

I do try to go over this when I have nursing students - the exams we do in health offices are so different from the type of assessment that is taught in nursing school.

The biggest tip I have to share is that when you are examining little ears, it is important to remember that their ear canals are not fully formed and are actually almost upside-down u shaped. So you need to insert the tip of the otoscope cover in at a slight upward angle at times and then actually pull back on the pinna of the ear to straighten out their ear canal. You then also need to sometimes move the otoscope around a little to be able to visualize the ear drum.

Good luck!

PS - It was just the lightbulb on my otoscope (Phew!).

Ooh thanks for this it's a really thorough resource! I may have to save it in case the site is ever lost.

Learning how to use an otoscope is pretty neat since it's so different than what we learn elsewhere (I know some offices use them). Hopefully we have them when we have more nursing students in the Fall semester.