My mother only has 60% hearing with her hearing aids in place; she has "profound" hearing loss, and thus is considered almost deaf. 5 days before Christmas she fell and hit her head and has been in the hospital, then skilled nursing, and now back to a different hospital ever since. EVERY DAY, at each location, my brother has had to tell the nurses/doctors/staff that mom needs her hearing aids in. They take them out, LOSE them, etc. and then tell my brother that she is UNRESPONSIVE! They won't make a note in her chart or write something on the board in her room, so the next nurse/doctor/staff person knows. Then they proceed to make medical assessments basing some of them on her lack of responses to them. When mom tries to tell them about the hearing aids, they ignore her or don't believe what she is saying. THIS IS A SERIOUS PROBLEM on many levels. First, the lack of care of these very expensive items (almost $10K for the pair) by the staff, and second, even more important, the fact that THEY DON'T KNOW SHE IS ALMOST DEAF, and are making medical assessments and decisions on inaccurate information (ie. saying she is unresponsive due to her injury when it is as simple as she can't hear them!) My brother is extremely frustrated, as he can't be there 24/7 constantly reminding them about this and it happens EVERY TIME she is moved to a different room, gets new staff assigned to her, etc. I was there over the Christmas holiday and visited several times and witnessed it first hand. I do NOT understand why this information isn't part of her intake and a permanent part of her charts! It is just as important as knowing what meds she takes, if she has any contagious disease, etc. Why isn't this part of their intake questionnaire? Seems that most seniors have some hearing problems, and staff should be aware of this, as well as things like whether they wear glasses and/or dentures. WHAT CAN WE DO IMMEDIATELY TO RESOLVE THE PROBLEM FOR MY MOM? WHAT CAN WE DO TO MAKE THESE INSTITUTIONS CHANGE THEIR PRACTICES TO INCLUDE THIS INFORMATION ON A PERSON? I am considering filing a complaint under the Americans with Disabilities Act, but it will take time for any results to filter down to my mom. We need help IMMEDIATELY! I feel like this is patient neglect, and could potentially end in a tragedy for my mom, or others, because the hospital is making medical decisions on inaccurate information (ie. that she is medically unresponsive due to her injury or something else, not just because she can't hear them!) Please help!!
Next I would call her social worker and pitch a fit.
Then I would call the Ombudsman and pitch same fit.
I would never have left my mother's hearing aids with her in a hospital room. Is your mother able to insert and remove them and - above all - store them unaided? Because unless she can, there is Not A Snowball's Chance in Hades that this will go well. it just isn't worth it. I'm sorry to suggest adding to his burden, but it will be much better if your brother carries them with him and takes them home again after his visit.
You could also ask to see the template medical history and personal information forms being used on admission. I will place a modest bet that you will find that information about glasses and hearing aids is *already* catered for. There will be boxes, and you might even find on your mother's own form that it has been conscientiously completed... presumably so that they can ignore it better.
Why isn't it acted on? If you find out an answer to this question that doesn't flagrantly amount to "haven't got time" or "can't be arsed" please let me know because it will relieve my own frustration about it enormously.
I have striven, in my 35 years of active engagement in health services one way or another, to be a dream relative and not a nightmare. I am NEVER rude, I am always considerate of the workload on members of staff, I am always respectful and I try to be constructive. But I have also lost count of the times when I have been tempted to take a patient's notes and beat somebody round the head with them.
To be fair, I expect the reason the staff are being particularly dim with your mother is that, because she presented with a head injury, they are especially jumpy about her level of responsiveness and are so focused on it they're not remembering that they need to do that little bit extra to engage with her. Your brother had better take this up with whoever is directing mother's care - which is who?
Also, print up index cards for mom to hand anyone who walks in the room who starts to question her that say "I cant hear without my hearing aids".
Get in touch with both the Patient Advocate and the Chaplain's office at the hospital and make your concern about your mother's mistreatment known.
My DH has had a hearing problem since her was 4 or 5 caused by an accident that crushed the bone behind the ear. Very important to the hearing process. He does not hear words clearly. He describes it as a static radio that you turn up the volume and still having a problem picking out words. Now that he has lost complete hearing in that year his other has maybe 30% when his hearing aide is in. His PCP wasn't even sympathetic to his problem. Husband would tell him to look at him when talking, he wouldn't. I called and told his nurse to put a BIG sheet of paper in his file with DEAF on it. We ended up changing doctors.
I have had to tell every shift, when he is in the hospital, that he is very hard of hearing. He also is completely deaf without his hearing aide. He actually wears his aide to bed because they bug him during the night and he needs to hear what they are saying. No, he doesn't sign.
You need to really BITCH to someone. You are past being nice. I have found that saying DH is deaf works better than hard of hearing. Maybe a medical bracelet would be a good idea. I would talk to a Social Worker. Explain this is causing problems with Moms evaluations. Also, that her aides are missing and you need them found. If not, you will be looking into the hospital paying for them.
Most of the staff read the sign. It was not always effective but better than nothing.
Barb’s idea of handing out index cards to anyone who came into her room to speak with her is *genius*.
As for the hearing aides don’t leave them with her in the hospital if she isn’t able to take them out & store them in her drawer. Losing hearing aides & dentures happen quite a bit in those settings which is why in the admission paperwork it states the hospital isn’t responsible if lost. That’s how they cover their liability.
Most hospital rooms these days have those huge white boards the staff use to write the date & who their CG was that day (RN & aide). You could also note it there.
Good luck!
Whenever he's in the hospital (which frankly is too often for someone) or if I am "invited: to a dr's appt (his cardiologist WANTS me there)....I go " behind his back" as it were and tell the nursing staff/MA that he is hard of hearing. They then know to LOOK at him when they talk and talk loudly. Also to have him repeat back to them, so they know he " got it".
He's going to be completely deaf in a few years and I am NOT looking forward to it.
He is VERY VERY sensitive about this "deficit" so I don't make it a big deal. Medical personnel just "assume" that you can hear unless told otherwise.
People assuming is why I now say he is deaf.
My dd cannot have Tylenol due to liver damage, we put a sign above her hospital bed too. I do not ask the hospital to provide it, I make it myself (they never seem to come home with us). My son is allergic to penicillin and should he ever be hospitalized I would make him a hot pink sign too.
Family can always add notes to the White boards in hospital rooms.
This has become very common in hospitals with "Hospitalists" and the entire room staff changing from shift to shift and day to day. Important things regarding the patient is being ignored. Even things between the various staff members are ignored.
Maybe a ID type of card pinned to the gown would help because the only person that comes and reads the board is the person that updates it.
For some unexplained reason hearing one thing that is ignored by the staff.
I had to train each person that came into DW's room to not grab her hand because of the gout and arthritis hurting her, causing her to yell in pain.