Hello, members of Allnurses.com. I'm posting to educate willing nurses about Deaf culture and how you, as a nurse, can deliver culturally sensitive care to the Deaf and deaf patient.
Let me begin by clarifying the most widely misconstrued understanding of deafness. There are two types of of hearing impaired patients, they are either deaf or Deaf. Let me define each for you.
deaf--An inability to hear or comprehend sound.
Deaf--A historic cultural heritage that has long fought battle after battle to be seen as equally intelligent as the hearing population.
From this point onward we understand that Deaf is a cultural heritage while deaf is the inability to hear. It is important that you do not confuse the two and place the capital 'D' where it is due. Not capitalizing the 'D' when referring to a member of the Deaf culture in writing is considered rude and disrespectful. As a nurse, I would expect you hold on to the professionalism of being a culturally sensitive licensed health care provider.
Further clarification is needed when it comes to sign language, English sign language, and American Sign Language. Let me again elucidate the differences.
Sign language--A mixture of body language and hand gestures used to communicate in a nonverbal, incoherent manner. Sign language is not a language in itself, but is used by unschooled deaf children and their parents, especially in older days.
English sign language--A form of sign language used to teach American Deaf children the English grammar and principles of the English language in American schools for the deaf.
American Sign Language (ASL)--A recognized and coherent language used especially in the United States and Canada by the Deaf community and those who wish to communicate with them. ASL has its own rules of grammar that are quite similar to French Sign Language, which it was built off of.
At this stage we can now distinct the three forms of sign languages used in the United States and hopefully apply them to the right Deaf or deaf patient.
Now I feel it's the right time to discuss how a nurse can properly care for a deaf patient while showing respect to his or her culture. Let's begin by placing emphasis on how important it is to make sure your patient can comprehend your words. If your patient cannot understand what you are saying, you are wasting both his and your time. If you know that a patient is deaf or Deaf, it is in your role to make sure an ASL or Esl interpretor is available for him. Do not begin discussing his health care until the certified interpretor has arrived and is ready to begin. Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, it is illegal not to provide an interpretor upon patient's request unless one is not available. If one is available, however, the ADA mandates that the service be paid for by the health care faculty. Should an interpretor not be available or the deaf patient is not fluent in ASL/Esl, there are only two lesser options that can be used to substitute for the interpreter. The first would be to communicate with the patient through writing, the second would be to type on a computer screen so that the patient can follow you 100%. Not making an attempt to properly accommodate the patient's disability is a civil crime and can be tried in a court of law. A Deaf person should never have to be put through the stress of begging you to write what you are saying down. It is patient negligence and incredibly disrespectful. The patient cannot hear you no matter how loud you speak or how slow you move your lips. This is the number one complaint of deaf patients. Do not continue this cycle of patient abuse.
Please remember that some hearing impaired people were either mainstreamed into public schools as a child, or were not formally schooled at all. Some, like myself, only spent a little time in a deaf school, but still played a major role in Deaf culture. It is immensely important that people understand that Deaf people do not want to be pitied or considered disabled. To them, being a part of the Deaf culture is a beautiful gift from God and we, as nurses, should respect that.
