Monday, October 7, 2013

Say What?



Yesterday I took care of a patient who was VERY hard of hearing.  I had significant trouble communicating with him; as in, he had no idea what I was saying.  So this morning I did some research on what I could have done to make things better (yes, I know, a day late...).

It turns out I did virtually everything wrong. I yelled (talking loud actually distorts the sound and makes things worse), I stood too close, my pitch was too high, I talked too fast, and I did not wear bright red lipstick. 

Yep, the source* I looked to suggested that when teaching older adults with hearing loss, women wear bright red lipstick and men wear lip gloss.  Why should the guys wear lip gloss and not wear bright red lipstick?  I have no idea.  Apparently hearing impaired adults can only hear women with bright red lipstick and men with lip gloss.




* Bastable, S. B. (2008). Nurse as educator: principles of teaching and learning for nursing practice. (3rd ed.). Syracuse, NY:  Jones and Bartlett

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