ABSTRACT
At the Center for Advanced Radiosurgery, patients with Acoustic Schwannomas are treated with Gamma Knife Radiosurgery. Between 2019 and 2020, 161 patients with acoustic schwannomas received Gamma Knife Radiosurgery. Often times these patients are diagnosed later in life and therefore struggle with communication because they lack alternative language skills such as sign language or lip reading. This was also compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic, adding a barrier posed by mask wearing. This lead to miscommunication, frustration on the part of both patient and staff. In order to mitigate this we created a "Gamma Knife Hearing Impaired" tool. Newly diagnosed patients with schwannomas are not equipped with the skills normally used by those who are diagnosed at birth or earlier in life. Communication can become very daunting, with both staff members and patients wearing masks throughout the pandemic, communication became even more difficult. In order to give clear, concise instruction and patient education, the nurses created a Gamma Knife Hearing Impaired tool. The Gamma Knife Radiosurgery Hearing Impaired Script was created. A power point which mimics the workflow of a patient receiving Gamma Knife Radiosurgery was created. It was divided into separate packets to coincide with the various portions of the Gamma Knife procedure. Each section includes a blank page for free writing and a page which contains a pain score. Utilizing our post procedure survey our patients found that the tool made their experience less confusing and decreased the delay in communication. We found that 100% of our patients found the tool to be helpful and easy to use. Effective communication between nurses and patients is a vital part of safe and effective nursing care. However, few health care professionals receive training on how to communicate with people who are hearing impaired. Our patients who we were able to utilize this tool, found it to be 100% helpful during their treatment. The Gamma knife Hearing Impaired Tool, allowed us to communicate more effectively and efficiently with our patients who have such communication barriers, thereby leading to increased patient satisfaction.