Nursing students' knowledge of working with D/deaf and hard of hearing patients: Evaluation of a deaf awareness...

The aim of this study was to evaluate a newly developed Deaf awareness e-learning package with nursing students at one university in Wales, UK.

D/deaf and hard of hearing communities face a multitude of barriers when accessing and receiving healthcare leading to under diagnosis of health conditions and poorer health outcomes in general. Lack of awareness, teaching, and exposure to the D/deaf and hard of hearing populations during health care professional training programmes has been shown to contribute to this health disparity.

A descriptive cross-sectional design was used with two cohorts of undergraduate nursing students at one university in Wales, UK who were invited to undertake a Deaf awareness eLearning package developed with D/deaf communities in Wales.

Nursing student engagement and course completion were monitored, and evaluation survey questionnaires were implemented.

The Deaf awareness eLearning package evaluation showed engagement with over 400 nursing students, who scored the package an overall mark (1 to 5 stars) of 4.72 out of 5. In total, 227 nursing students completed the eLearning package and received the certificate. Students reported finding the eLearning package very interactive, easy to navigate, thought the three-hour length was about right. However, we would like to know more about factors that influence student non-engagement and dropout.

These findings suggest that eLearning Deaf awareness programs can be successful in increasing knowledge and confidence around communicating with D/deaf and hard of hearing patients for nursing, with potential benefits for wider rollout across wider health and care student and staff populations.

Grant number: 101010662\737073].

D/deaf and hard of hearing patients experience barriers in healthcare so health professionals need accessible Deaf awareness training. Our eLearning model shows promise.