Abstract
Abstract Background Residents of nursing homes can be dependent on care staff for the insertion and maintenance of their hearing aids. There is no current research carried out in Irish nursing homes on this topic. Methods Using a quantitative study design participants were recruited from two Irish publicly-funded Nursing Homes. 58 Care staff participated in this study. Care staff completed a validated paper-based questionnaire. Descriptive statistics were applied. Kruskal Wallis H tests were used to examine if there was a statistically significant difference in questionnaire answers between three occupations: Healthcare Assistants, Nurses and Nurse Managers Results 15% of care staff agreed that they had received training in the use and care of hearing aids. 20% of care staff agreed that they knew the approximate lifetime of a hearing aid battery.100% of care staff agreed they need more information on the different types of hearing aids. 95% agreed that there is a need for information on hearing aid maintenance, and 88% of care staff agreed that they need more information on hearing loss among the older population. Conclusion This extensive data, the first of its kind in Ireland, shows us that care staff are very candid about the issues they confront and have demonstrated a willingness and openness to learning. It confirms the skills and information gap of care staff and there is great scope for training, and this will have a very positive impact on residents and care staff.
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