hearing impaired

[buffybuffy]

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

[Tenebrae, BSN, RN]

At the end of the day if there is another method of ensuring that a nurse can hear properly and ensure safe continuous nursing care, I'm all for it.

For me, hearing aids are neither here nor there its about ensuring that a nurse can safely care for their patients.

all of you normal hearing folk need a little reality check. hearing aides are not the be all and end all of fixing hearing. and they bring problems of their own, ie as in any other prosthesis the skin can become irritated. and hearing aides and telephones do not go well together without adaption. i knew a nurse that had been both nearly blind and deaf, the deafness was treated and went away. she stated she would prefer to be blind than deaf any day of the week. that when she couldn't hear she was treated as if she were purposefully not hearing but the vision issues were accepted readily. and many of us still need persons to face us when speaking, and keep your darn hands away from your face!

[Phoenix2541]

To the OP, I do get what you are going through as I have hearing aids. I got them in Nursing school, I am an older student, I was self conscious about wearing them and I did not always wear them. I find voices that resonate louder are easier to hear, consonants can sometimes be harder to hear, I do mouth read also, sometimes I can hear just fine. They cause my ear to sweat, squeal sometimes and I can hear background noise loud too.

People did notice, in part b/c the hearing aids are not the same color as my ear. Wearing glasses has been more readily accepted because it has not been associated with a negative stigma, unless you have coke bottle glasses. I can still hear people refer to deaf persons as deaf and dumb. I'm thinking that it would give you pause to do what you know you need because of the negative judgment. Being very blunt and "matter of fact" is not considering that this person will probably come to the conclusion that she needs to wear them, I think she does not want to be judged, which happened in a major way. I welcome candid discussion, but being hyper critical and lambasting someone like a lot of people did, just seemed not to be the most helpful.

[FlyingScot, RN]

They cause my ear to sweat, squeal sometimes and I can hear background noise loud too.

People did notice, in part b/c the hearing aids are not the same color as my ear. Wearing glasses has been more readily accepted because it has not been associated with a negative stigma, unless you have coke bottle glasses. I can still hear people refer to deaf persons as deaf and dumb. I'm thinking that it would give you pause to do what you know you need because of the negative judgment. Being very blunt and "matter of fact" is not considering that this person will probably come to the conclusion that she needs to wear them, I think she does not want to be judged, which happened in a major way. I welcome candid discussion, but being hyper critical and lambasting someone like a lot of people did, just seemed not to be the most helpful.

First of all she said in her original post that she would not wear them because she was too self-conscious but she was having a great deal of difficulty hearing. Sorry...not acceptable from a patient safety viewpoint. She did not present a sympathetic case at all.

Second. My glasses hurt my nose and ears and fall off at the most inconvenient times. But I need them to start IV's without having to repeatedly stick my patients.

Third. I highly doubt any of her co-workers would ever call her deaf and dumb and if a patient did she would find that those same co-workers would do their best to make her feel better.

Fourth. Many of us, myself included, told her that her hearing aids would remind us to be extra careful when communicating to her so the fact that they are visible would actually be an advantage.

Fifth. I would not want to be the patient who caused her to realize that she actually does need to wear her hearing aids.

[Phoenix2541]

Yes. I can see how you feel that you are right.

[morte, LPN, LVN]

Like most posters I really don't get it. I lost some hearing in one ear due to bacterial meningitis as an infant. I've lost more hearing in both ears because I'm old and have always loved to play rock and role as loud as I can crank it up in my car! Still do!

No one in my family (after it was diagnosed around age 5) gave me any special consideration or treatment, (3 brothers and 3 sisters). Until I was about 12 I thought everybody had one ear that didn't hear as well as the other!

I would have loved it if sensory hearing loss could be helped with hearing aids (it can't). I find no difference in wearing glasses ((I need my glasses to find my glasses) and hearing aids?

Glasses can be hard to fit, too tight, sores behind the ears or bridge of the nose, too loose they fall off every time I look down. It seems like they are always dirty and get scratched so easily. They are much more noticeable than hearing aids!

and less accepted than glasses, see my previous post.

[chare]

and less accepted than glasses, see my previous post.

How do you come to this conclusion. In your previous post you referred to the following:

…i knew a nurse that had been both nearly blind and deaf, the deafness was treated and went away. she stated she would prefer to be blind than deaf any day of the week. that when she couldn't hear she was treated as if she were purposefully not hearing but the vision issues were accepted readily…

You don't mention whether she wore hearing aids or not. Did all of these individuals know that she was nearly deaf?

This is far from conclusive proof that hearing aids are less readily accepted than glasses. On the contrary, there have been several posts on here describing how members have taken care to face the individual and speak slowly and clearly with individuals that were known have hearing difficulties.

[doodlebuttRN]

As someone who has worn both hearing aids and glasses since early childhood, I can say that (in my long years of experience) hearing aids are NOTHING LIKE glasses. As stated in previous post, I agree with most posters that the OP really has no choice, if she wants to be a nurse, to wear her hearing aids. For patient safety, legal, and many other reasons already stated in above comments.

It can be really hard to put yourself out there as a hearing impaired nurse. Growing up, I was treated as, and called "mentally retarded" because of my speech. Years of speech therapy allowed me to speak normally, but I will always carry that within me. The difference is that I have now accepted the fact that I am hearing impaired, and I am a nurse, and I wear my hearing aids for the rest of my life without a thought to what others think. My performance speaks for itself, and that is all I need. It sounds like the OP is not there yet, and a little encouragement can go a long way, as Esme pointed out.

Again, I wish you the very best of luck in your studies and your career!

[Cindycin37, ASN, RN]

Yea I wear my hearing aids but I have a hard time when someone talks really fast with accent. I was orientating with a nurse & politely asked him to slow down during change of shift report because I was hard of hearing and wear two hearing aids. I tried to explained to him that it was harder for me to hear the faster he talked because he has an accent (He is from Africa). He took offense to that and immediately starting treating me badly and then started talking to me like I was stupid. I get heart palpitations when I have to work with him now. I'm afraid to ask questions. He also told some of the C.N.As that I was racist. My son is half African american and I am far from being racist. I tried to speak with the DON about it but she basically said, "Oh he's just sensitive about his accents". She has a polish accent and stated that she knows how HE feels. Really? I completely understand that some may be sensitive about their accents but it still doesn't give someone a right to yell and belittle someone. Anyway, I have to work with him Friday and I'm so stressed out about it:/

[morte, LPN, LVN]

that is called a hostile work environment.

Yea I wear my hearing aids but I have a hard time when someone talks really fast with accent. I was orientating with a nurse & politely asked him to slow down during change of shift report because I was hard of hearing and wear two hearing aids. I tried to explained to him that it was harder for me to hear the faster he talked because he has an accent (He is from Africa). He took offense to that and immediately starting treating me badly and then started talking to me like I was stupid. I get heart palpitations when I have to work with him now. I'm afraid to ask questions. He also told some of the C.N.As that I was racist. My son is half African american and I am far from being racist. I tried to speak with the DON about it but she basically said, "Oh he's just sensitive about his accents". She has a polish accent and stated that she knows how HE feels. Really? I completely understand that some may be sensitive about their accents but it still doesn't give someone a right to yell and belittle someone. Anyway, I have to work with him Friday and I'm so stressed out about it:/

[dishes, BSN, RN]

that is called a hostile work environment.

No, this is not a hostile work environment, while it is reasonable to ask colleagues to modify their speech by slowing down, it is not reasonable to blame an unmodifiable factor such as an accent. I can see why the staff and manager were offended and think Cindycin should offer the preceptor an apology.

[morte, LPN, LVN]

No, this is not a hostile work environment, while it is reasonable to ask colleagues to modify their speech by slowing down, it is not reasonable to blame an unmodifiable factor such as an accent. I can see why the staff and manager were offended and think Cindycin should offer the preceptor an apology.

she asked him to slow down because of his accent. the fact that THAT offended him is too darn bad. the fact that he is now spreading misinformation about her on the unit, definetely results in a hostile environment. and an accent IS NOT an unmodifiable factor. you do know that the actor who played "House" is a Brit, yes?

[dishes, BSN, RN]

Her comment was interpreted as ethnocentric by her preceptor and her manager, she can rectify this misinterpretation by taking responsibiliy for offending him.