Hearing & Vision screens PRE-K

SchlNrsKrn · Oct 4, 2019

I have been at Pre-K for 20 years. Texas required puretone for hearing screenings, so we have Abmco 650AB. I do conditioned play where they place a block in a box when they hear the tone. I use HTOV for vision, and I usually wait until we come back from Christmas break to mass screen, as there are way fewer "unable to screen" kids the longer in the year you wait.

Jfanch18 · Oct 4, 2019

I have pre-k in my school and usually wait until late spring to complete their screenings as they are a little bit older then

AutumnDraidean · Oct 5, 2019

At the head start program I worked at we used AOE screeners. They have 2 pitfalls, first, any fluid behind the ear drum can mean that ear will fail. That fluid can persist as long as 4-6 weeks after an ear infection was treated with abx. The second issue is not all three and four year olds will suffer the 30-45 seconds per ear that it takes. If the squirm or talk the screen will deliver a false fail.

Schools may have some leeway but Head Start expects screening to take place within 45 days.

We also used a Welch Allen product to screen vision by measuring the shape of the eye. all the child has to do is hold still for about 5-10 seconds per eye and you need a steady hand.

Flare, ASN, BSN · Oct 7, 2019

i was thinking about asking for an OAE on the budget wishlist or even looking into setting up an donor's choose, but more recently I am having second thoughts. Then on Friday, I had an audiology student who is in the school working with our speech pathologist ask if she could get some of her hearing screening hours in by doing my screenings (my response: SUUURE!! ? * cue happy dance). Then she said that the other students often have a hard time finding a place to come for hours (me: bring me your needy audiology students, yearning to get their requirements finished).

She also said she's bring me an OAE to play with, but didn't think that i'd like the way it works in a school setting - to noisy, to many interruptions and foot traffic)

ruby_jane, BSN, RN · Oct 7, 2019

48 minutes ago, Flare said:
She also said she's bring me an OAE to play with, but didn't think that i'd like the way it works in a school setting - to noisy, to many interruptions and foot traffic)

YAY!!! The OAE looks AWESOME (on paper, testing it in the ears on an adult). In reality - you have to have a good seal, which means you're fiddling with the ear widgets. You are theoretically supposed to look in the ears first because cerumen build-up or partially migrated tubes will mess up the OAE result. It takes waaaay too long with a wiggler. If the student cannot be conditioned to drop the block in the box - we do a functional hearing and tell parent to follow up.

Can you see if your PTA or health services will upgrade your ancient audiometer? Good luck!

Bulldogs, CNA, EMT-B · Oct 7, 2019

I called the Lions club to come use the spot screener on my Pre-k and Sped students it is free and doesnt take long at all.

UrbanHealthRN, BSN, RN · Oct 7, 2019

I used an OAE for Head Start as well. Keep in mind that OAEs technically don't screen hearing ability- they screen middle ear function, which is a big part of hearing but not the whole enchilada. OAEs are very sensitive to too much earwax, or fluid in the ear, or ear infections, or respiratory infections (I've literally seen some kids' OAE results change from week to week if they've been sick with colds and whatnot). Also, figuring out how to pick the right eartip for each child was a challenge for me, until I found a multi-size eartip that is amaaazing! Overall, OAEs are quick to use, don't require a kid to do anything besides sit still (which I know is more than enough of a challenge with this age group!), and are very portable. I recommend them!

lifelearningrn, BSN, RN · Oct 7, 2019

Has your audiometer been calibrated? Mine is a pretty ancient one too but gets calibrated yearly and works fine.

The little ones do take forever. lol

kidzcare · Oct 8, 2019

16 hours ago, lifelearningrn said:
The little ones do take forever. lol

I estimate about 5 minutes per kid for preschool screening (both vision and hearing). I have around 600 in my district. So fun

KH_RN6, BSN · Oct 11, 2019

On 10/8/2019 at 8:38 AM, kidzcare said:
I estimate about 5 minutes per kid for preschool screening (both vision and hearing). I have around 600 in my district. So fun

Ugh!! It takes me about 10 minutes! Pending on the kiddo. On top of running the clinic at the same time, my AM session classes take even longer because I get pulled for tube feeds or AM meds inbetween screens.

On 10/7/2019 at 3:53 PM, lifelearningrn said:
Has your audiometer been calibrated? Mine is a pretty ancient one too but gets calibrated yearly and works fine.
The little ones do take forever. lol

It's calibrated yearly during the summer. It works fine ? there just HAS got to be a better and easier way!! A lot of my 3 year olds are scared of the headphones, or they will agree to wear them and then get bored waiting for the guy to start talking.

lifelearningrn, BSN, RN · Oct 11, 2019

2 hours ago, K_HinckleyRN said:
It's calibrated yearly during the summer. It works fine ? there just HAS got to be a better and easier way!! A lot of my 3 year olds are scared of the headphones, or they will agree to wear them and then get bored waiting for the guy to start talking.

Your audiometer talks?