hearing impaired

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Hi, I have mild hearing loss in one ear and moderate hearing loss in the other ear, I'm too self-conscious to wear my hearing aids as I'm a mature student and already feel our of place as I'm older than the other students! I've had hearing loss all my life but now I'm doing placements in a hospital I'm finding it very difficult to hear what people are saying and doctor's accents are particularly difficult. When I have told people I'm on placement with about my hearing they are sympathetic, but I find it difficult to tell every single person I come into contact with, especially doctors, that I need to have eye contact to hear them, many doctors and anaesthetists don't give a student nurse any time to speak, let alone tell them something personal like hearing loss. I don't want to be treated any differently to other people but find it hard to bring up the subject of hearing when some don't even acknowledge a 'hello'

does anyone else have this problem?? :-) thanks x

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Ortho, ASC.

I find it very odd that you are allowing vanity to overrule your common sense and your ability to conduct your job. You are at serious risk of making multiple errors at work. Why ask a question here when the answer is right in front of you?

FWIW, I would far rather be seen wearing hearing aids than attempt to tell every.single.person I meet that I must have eye contact with them. How exhausting.

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"Your honor, I have hearing loss, and don't want people to see me wearing medical devices in a hospital. That is why I did not clearly hear the order and wrote and gave the wrong dose of medication."

Always think of things in that light, because "What's the worst that could happen?" is part of this career choice.

Moral?

Wear the hearing aids. If that's the least physically attractive thing about you, you're doing pretty darn good!

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chill out, I didn't say I wouldn't wear them, I said I was self-conscious about wearing them, sarcasm doesn't help a problem when I've admitted I'm anxious about something, thanks for the encouragement!

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Specializes in Peds/Neo CCT,Flight, ER, Hem/Onc.

Really?!!! Really?!!! I'm sorry but I can't believe that you actually think not wearing your hearing aids is even remotely okay. Patient safety always, always, always comes first. If you can't hear you're not safe. Period. Grow up and wear the hearing aids. Yes, I sound harsh. Unapologetically harsh. Vanity has no place in nursing especially when it could seriously compromise a patient's well being. It's not about you. It's about the patients. About time you learned that.

And trust me when I say this. There isn't a member here who is going to support what you're doing. Expect more replies that sound like mine and worse.

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Specializes in Peds/Neo CCT,Flight, ER, Hem/Onc.
chill out, I didn't say I wouldn't wear them, I said I was self-conscious about wearing them, sarcasm doesn't help a problem when I've admitted I'm anxious about something, thanks for the encouragement!

Yes you most certainly did say you weren't going to wear them and you asked for suggestions on how to make everyone adapt to you. If you wanted encouragement then perhaps you should have phrased it more like "I wear hearing aids and I'm self-conscious about it. Do you think people will treat me differently" at which point all of us would have told you that you had nothing to worry about and everyone would be more than happy to assist you in any way possible. There are several hearing impaired nurses here who can steer you in the direction of the best stethoscope and other tips.

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Specializes in Adult and Pediatric Vascular Access, Paramedic.

This presents a safety issue to your patients as you may not be able to hear them if they are telling you about important symptoms, or are in need of immediate help. Also, you risk misunderstanding physicians and other personnel which could lead to an error in care.

I would say put your vanity aside and wear your hearing aides, you need to get used to them and wearing them at work, since you will have to once you are the R.N.

HPRN

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Yes you most certainly did say you weren't going to wear them and you asked for suggestions on how to make everyone adapt to you. If you wanted encouragement then perhaps you should have phrased it more like "I wear hearing aids and I'm self-conscious about it. Do you think people will treat me differently" at which point all of us would have told you that you had nothing to worry about and everyone would be more than happy to assist you in any way possible. There are several hearing impaired nurses here who can steer you in the direction of the best stethoscope and other tips.

No she didn't. She said she ALREADY WAS REFUSING TO WEAR THEM.

Ridiculous.

Also, yes, special stethoscope is awesome. My Charge RN has one that has an electronic amplifier. I don't know why he's still a nurse though, you can hear next month's winning Powerball numbers with that thing, lol!

Seriously though, hearing aids + stethoscope has gotten the two nurses I work around who are hearing impaired by pretty well.

OP: You are getting harsh responses because, to be blunt, what you're suggesting is stupid. Your co-workers hate stupid. Stupid harms patients, and creates more work even when it doesn't (like all these people who you are trying to get to adapt to YOUR issue). Noone likes it. Noone is going to be sympathetic to it once they know the whole story.

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Specializes in Peds/Neo CCT,Flight, ER, Hem/Onc.

I also want to add. If you were a student on my unit and had hearing aids it would alert me to make sure I was facing you when speaking and to slow down my rapid fire delivery from Mach 5 to at least Mach 2. Not only that, I really admire people who don't let their individual challenges stop them from trying to achieve their goals and because of your particular issue would probably spend extra time with you. But I'm going to want to see you doing whatever it takes to maximize your abilities which would include setting aside your needs for the good of your patients.

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OP, I also have a moderately severe hearing loss, and have worn bilateral BTE aids since early childhood. I was very self conscious about it growing up, and refused to wear them for a long time. But when I became an RN, I realized that I have no choice in this matter. To be fully functional, I must wear my aids, regardless of what anyone thinks. And I have found in almost every job I've had, that though coworkers may have questions or be unfamiliar with hearing loss, especially in nursing, once they get to know me and see that I can do my job well and am fully capable, it ceases to be an issue.

As several posters have said, it is a legal and safety issue. You cannot perform your job without your hearing aids, period. And if you choose not to wear them, then situations will arise where you miss important things, or misunderstand them, and the patient will be the one to suffer. How will you use the telephone? There is no eye contact there.

I know that some of these responses may seem harsh, but really we are trying to save you from a fully preventable problem in the future. I understand COMPLETELy how you feel, it was so hard for me as a new grad to wear my aids, I felt like everyone was looking at me and judging me....in reality, most people never even noticed. But if you are unable to communicate, and have to constantly ask people to repeat themselves, believe me, you WILL be noticed. Your best bet is to just do what you know is right, and wear your hearing aids all the time. Get used to it, and get comfortable with the idea of yourself as a hearing impaired nurse who uses corrective devices so that you can be the very best nurse you can. Don't disable yourself further by removing the devices that allow you to hear and communicate the very best you can.

I wish you the very best of luck in your future nursing career!

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Specializes in OR, Nursing Professional Development.

Patient safety comes first. You really need to wear your hearing aids in order to prevent errors, whether that is mishearing telephone orders, mishearing report, mishearing what patients are telling you. You are definitely not the first nursing student/nurse who has hearing loss. There are several threads in the Nurses with Disabilities forum that you can read for ideas/assistance. But if you were to be sued and the lawyer for the other side found out that you had hearing aids but wouldn't wear them, you can kiss your job and probably your nursing license goodbye. Is that something you want to set yourself up for before you even get the opportunity to get your license?

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Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.

Ok I think the OP got the point....now lets give some encouragement.

OP....it is difficult to be the odd man out. I have worked with hearing impaired nurses in the past and they are just as accepted as anyone else. There are special stethoscopes that you can purchase with amplification. If you have difficulty with the phone there are adapters that can be applied. I do not know if you are in the US because we have laws here for the disabled and accommodations are made for these individuals.

Not wearing your assistive devices might pose a safety risk to yourself and your patients.

My best advice....wear your hearing aids. Age has nothing to do with your lifelong issue with hearing ((HUGS))

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