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Any advice on how to get the nursing staff to take better care of my mom's new hearing aids? We have lost 2 sets now. I would like my mom with dementia to wear her hearing aids all day but the nursing home keeps the new set at the nursing station. I think not hearing all day is adding to her anxiety and surly isn't helping with her dementia.

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I found anything that needs to be done daily should have a doctors order to ensure it gets on the to do list.
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I agree with Isthisreallyreal. I think the best way to keep track is to have them listed as medically necessary and ask that they are kept on the med cart so they are available to be put in with morning medications and securely put away on the cart when night meds are given.
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It may be difficult if she is the one who takes them out and places them anywhere. There is also the issue when the wax guard if clogged and needs to be replaced, that she might not recognize a problem. Hearing aids require a lot of surveillance. You might paint them a bright green so that if they are dropped it will become noticable but another resident may be fascinated with a new find. If all fails, talk to the audiologist to go simple with a box on a necklace and headphone or earphones
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We used hearing aid clips with Mom. They hook to each aid and then we clipped the other end to the back of her collar so she couldn't unclip them. She could still take them out, but she wouldn't lose them. They have them at Amazon, and I'm sure other sites
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Good Morning,

Can they be insured?
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Lizhappens Jan 2023
I know my Mrs.’ came with a year warranty for full replacement
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Possibly see if they can place them with her medications which are locked up? Then everything is in one place. Staff could put them on her every morning. I don't think the nursing station is a good place to keep them, as obviously they've lost 2 pairs already and are not cheap to replace. Best wishes.
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She absolutely should wear them all the time! It’s very isolating to not be able to hear everything, especially conversations! I don’t like to say it, but it can bring on dementia when a person can’t hear. The brain has to work too had to fill in the gaps of words that can’t be heard. Or whole conversations, for that matter.

Keep them attached to hearing aid clips (on a lanyard or string) so that if they fall, they won’t go far.

We kept my mother’s in a little container on her nightstand overnight. The health aides helped her put them on every morning.
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Unfortunately my experience with care facility nursing staff monitoring hearing aid use has not been good. In one facility they stated it is not their job and would not do it. Checking this prior to placement is vital. Because hearing loss is directing associated with advancing dementia this is a vital care need.
In fairness, my sister removed her hearing aids so just getting them in was only half the problem.
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How about tying them to a unique head band and have her wear it all day, even if she takes the hearing aids out?

Google "hearing aid necklace."
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Keeping hearing aids with her meds on the med cart is an excellent idea. That makes the nurses, not the aids, responsible. But they still can get lost . So there should also be written instructions for the nurse to secure them with the pins (or whatever device is used) to keep them from getting lost.
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BurntCaregiver Jan 2023
@Dosmo

No nurse is going to take on the responsibility of the hearing aides.
That's aide work and the aides can be blamed if they go missing. No nurse is going to take the heat for something tht can be blamed on an aide.
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Maggie2204: Most hearing devices have a case. Your mother's name should be written with a sharpie on the case and perhaps her initials on the device itself. Yes, the device is small, but try to place some identifying mark on them. As an aside, I even placed my mother's name on her toothbrush.
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Psyclinz Jan 2023
I did all this too; even wrote Dad's name on the 2 hearing aids as well as his glasses. Unfortunately - still lost several replacements of both, also many items of named clothing, shoes, slippers, keepsakes... These places are so understaffed, the staff under so much time pressure, it is virtually impossible to prevent loss. Sometimes it's the care assistants, sometimes it's your loved one, sometimes it's other residents losing, taking, borrowing, hiding things. I understand the difficulties, concerns and frustrations. Sigh. Just do the best you can, for as long as you can.
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Unfortunately, I had to stop leaving my mom's glasses at her facility. No one ever put them on for her to wear.

In addition, so many of her things were lost, that I did not want them also lost.

So, I brought them every time I visited.
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It's terrible in nursing homes what goes missing. Hearing aides, eyeglasses, even people's dentures.
The staff aren't careful with people things even when you put the resident's name on them.
A lot of the time the staff isn't even to blame. Other residents with dementia take these things. Often the person who owns them misplaces them too.
There's not a lot you can do. You can ask at the nurse's desk for them to put her hearing aides in during her AM care then to check on them throughout the day to make sure she's still wearing them. Connie has a good idea about maybe having her use a headband to keep hearing aids in place, or even some other kind of device. Then an aide can remove them at night and return them to the nurse's station.
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I have a cord that attaches to each hearing aid and clips to my blouse. I lost a 1000 dollar hearing aid in a parking lot, purchased these cords on
Amazon immediately afterwards. (By the way, Costco replaces theirs one time when lost. A friend's husband was one of the national leaders in hearing academics. Said buy cheap hearing aids for sure ie. costco) The cords are silicone with a hoop going around each one. That being said, the chances of keeping them in a nursing home for any length of time are nil. My MIL lost several. When I saw the aides changing her, one reason was obvious. They were always understaffed, in a hurry, and the hearing aids could end up in the laundry etc. She had no idea of how to care for them. They are tiny. The cords might decrease this loss for a bit. I wonder if there are headsets that might serve to increase hearing; they would be harder to lose, especially with a name on them. I really believe it is a losing battle, among many. They sell them online as well, less expensive, how good?, and. even so they will be lost. I work at not losing mine or wearing them in the shower myself.
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I KEPT MY PATIENTS' HEARING AIDS IN TOP DRAWER THE MED CART AND THEY WERE GIVEN OUT DURING MORNING MEDS. THEY WERE KEPT IN CONTAINERS WITH THE PATIENTS' NAMES ON THEM. EVERY PATIENT DESERVES TO HAVE HER HEARING AIDE IN HER EARS.
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