The nurse is providing instruction on hearing loss to the parents of a 7-month-old child who has just been diagnosed with that condition. What guidance should the nurse provide?

Question

1. Expect that your child will be enrolled in a special hearing intervention program immediately.
2. Keep your child in a quiet environment until additional testing is done.
3. Interventions to support hearing are not useful until the child is at least 9 months old.
4. Hearing loss is not serious until 1 year of age.

Answer 1

1. Expect that your child will be enrolled in a special hearing intervention program immediately.

Rationale:
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend that children with hearing loss be enrolled in an intervention program by 6 months of age. The child should be stimulated with color, smells, body positions, and textures to develop compensatory mechanisms for the hearing loss. Hearing loss is serious from birth.