Technology assures deaf medical student learns surgery at UC Davis

This video was shared in 2011 and it tells the story of Amanda Mooneyham, a deaf medical student at the UC Davis School of Medicine:



Amanda Mooneyham has a 90 decibel hearing loss in both ears, which is considered profound. She can read lips and, with the help of hearing aids, can hear speech as long as the words are spoken clearly and in her direction. In a hospital operating room, where physicians are more apt to mumble than use complete sentences and where everyone wears masks and directs their attention toward the patient, Mooneyham faced a frustrating — if not entirely ineffective — surgical learning experience.

Using tablet technology to link the sounds in the operating room to an off-site medical transcriptionist, Mooneyham is able to "listen" — in real time — to every word uttered by the surgeon performing the operation.

Nurses with sensory disabilities: their perceptions and characteristics

A survey design was used to explore the perceptions and characteristics of registered nurses (RNs) with sensory disabilities and their risk for leaving their jobs. An earlier study found that nurses with disabilities are leaving nursing and that employers do not appear to support these nurses. Work instability and the mismatch between a nurse's perceptions of his or her ability and the demands of their work increase risk for job retention problems. This study's convenience sample of U.S. RNs had hearing, vision, or communication disabilities. Participants completed a demographic form, three U.S. Census questions, and the Nurse-Work Instability Survey. Hospital nurses were three times more likely to be at risk for retention problems. Nurses with hearing disabilities were frustrated at work. Hearing difficulties increased with years spent working as a nurse. Many nurses with sensory disabilities have left nursing. Early intervention may prevent work instability and increase retention, and rehabilitation nurses are ideally positioned to lead early intervention programs.

Neal-Boylan L, Fennie K, Baldauf-Wagner S. Nurses with sensory disabilities: their perceptions and characteristics. Rehabil Nurs. 2011 Jan-Feb;36(1):25-31.
PMID: 21290962

Access the full article here (PDF).

MIT engineers working on a new type of hearing aid

Findings from MIT scientists could lead to hearing aids that mimic the ear’s ability to focus on particular frequencies.

“We’ve incorporated into hearing aids everything we know about how sounds are sorted, but they’re still not very effective in problematic environments such as restaurants, or anywhere there are competing speakers,” says Dennis Freeman, MIT professor of electrical engineering, who is leading the research team. “If we knew how the ear sorts sounds, we could build an apparatus that sorts them the same way.”

In a 2007 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences paper, Freeman and his associates A.J. Aranyosi and lead author Roozbeh Ghaffari showed that the tiny, gel-like tectorial membrane, located in the inner ear, coordinates with the basilar membrane to fine-tune the ear’s ability to distinguish sounds. Last month, they reported in Nature Communications that a mutation in one of the proteins of the tectorial membrane interferes with that process.

Read more here.

Nurses with hearing loss

NurseTogether has an article titled, "Adapt, Compensate and Tune Into the Lights: Nurses w/ Hearing Loss." The story is about a nurse who suffered hearing loss while serving in the Navy. The story is an excerpt from “Nursing Students with Disabilities Change the Course” by Donna Maheady, EdD, ARNP

Association of Medical Professionals With Hearing Losses

The Association of Medical Professionals With Hearing Losses provides information, promotes advocacy and mentorship, and creates a network for individuals with hearing loss interested in or working in health care fields.

To learn more, visit: http://www.amphl.org