Enrolled Nurses are employed in a wide range of nursing fields and can be influential in recognising the needs of people in their care who are Deaf or live with a hearing difficulty.
Enrolled Nurses are trained to take part in hospital admission and discharge procedures and, with a knowledge of communication access assistance, would be well placed to contribute to reducing stress on vulnerable patients.
We made key recommendations to a review of the curriculum for the Diploma in Nursing for Enrolled Nurses.
Communication access needs to be adequately identified in appropriate parts of the curriculum.
Communication access needs to be presented as an integral part of nursing care, particularly for our increasing elderly community.
There is a crucial need for Enrolled Nurses to be able to support and oversee implementation and maintenance of communication access in residential and in-home care as well as in hospital settings.
Enrolled Nurses would be well placed to make sure that patients’ hearing aids or alternative listening devices are used and cared for while in hospital.