Enhancing effective communication between nurses and patients with hard of hearing

Abstract

Approximately 360 million people are affected by hard of hearing worldwide and about 750000 people are affected in Finland. The purpose of this thesis is to make a poster from evidence-based materials about the strategies for overcoming barriers to effective communication caused by hard of hearing. Our thesis seeks to empower the nurses with techniques to overcome barriers associated with communicating effectively with the patients with hard of hearing at a health care setting. We conducted this thesis as literature review. The information obtained from PUBMED and CINAHL databases. The information search results revealed that hard of hearing patients faces many problems when using health care services including: mismatch between patients’ hearing abilities and institutional functioning; misunderstandings of diagnoses and treatment; lack of interpreters in healthcare facilities; miscommunication due to use of face masks; lack of patience on the part of healthcare professionals; increased medical costs; and stigma. Overally, information search results suggest that communication between patients with hard of hearing and healthcare professionals can be enhanced through use of interpreters, transparent masks, captioning apps, signage and communication boards, as well as paying attention to the communication preferences of patients with hard of hearing.