NURSING CARE RELATED TO THE SENSORY AND
NEUROLOGICAL SYSTEMS
1-10
1-10. AUDIOMETRY
a. Hearing tests are conducted with a device called an audiometer. This apparatus produces sounds of specific frequencies and intensities. The patient sits in a soundproof room and listens to the sounds over a set of earphones. Sounds of varying frequency and intensity are than transmitted to each ear separately. The patient signals when a sound is heard by raising his hand or pressing a button to indicate which ear heard the sound. When a sound is transmitted and the patient does not signal, the examiner records that the sound was not heard.
b. When this equipment is not available, a gross examination can be performed using "field expedient techniques." Have the patient sit with eyes closed and ask him to identify sounds made by an examiner moving in a perimeter around the patient. The patient should identify from which direction the sound originated and the type of sound heard. Sounds can be created by whistling, whispering, tapping, playing a radio, and so forth.
