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My mother is 92 years old, and she lives in a nursing home nearby me. My siblings and I visit her during the week to make sure she is comfortable and happy. However, I am having a problem with the staff at the nursing home not putting her hearing aid in and out of her ears. The last time she got new hearing aid the Hearing Aid Specialist wrote down that someone there should put the hearing aid in both ears in the morning and take them out at nighttime. Well, I gave them the instructions and about a week later one of my mother hearing aids is lost and cannot be found. I went to the head nurse, and she stated they will look for the hearing aid, but she suggests that I should go to Walmart and get another hearing aid that is not expensive and is more amplified. The problem is when she gets new hearing aid, will someone put the hearing aid in and out of her ears? If someone went by the instructions taking the hearing aid in and out of her ears, I feel someone will know when her hearing aid became lost. I want to get her a new pair of hearing aid, but I don't know who I should speak to at the nursing home in regard to my mother's hearing aid. Has anyone been in this predicament before? What should I do? Any advice will be greatly appreciated.Thank you.Ann

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I took photos of DH's hearing aids, printed them, and wrote on the photos that these were his hearing aids and that they must put them on DH every morning and remove and charge them every night. I taped these instructions to his bathroom mirror. If the HAs get lost, the aides have a ready reference so they know what kind of hearing aid to look for.

I did the same thing with his trifocals. Also, I spoke with the aides about his hearing aids and glasses frequently until they understood that it was important to honor my requests.
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Reply to Fawnby
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My mother had expensive hearing aids but she handled putting them
on herself. She also changed the batteries herself.

I would take them to a hearing aid technician to have them cleaned and tubes replaced every six months or so.

The staff was not involved with her hearing aids as far as I know.
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Reply to Hothouseflower
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There is another step with these expensive hearing aids that cannot be addressed in a SNF. They have very tiny filters that clog up and need replacing. If mom's mental status is too far gone, she will not be aware they are clogged and most likely will not ask someone to change them....if staff even know how to do this.
When my mom went into MC, she used to claim that she had no hearing problems. I suspect she threw them out. In fact, I removed all expensive items, even her jewelry. The exception was her eyeglasses. At some point, even those needed replacement. For hearing I got her sound amplifiers and I only brought them out when I wanted her to hear something.
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Reply to MACinCT
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My mom has dementia, is blind, and profoundly deaf...can't hear much even with expensive hearing aids. They are 'insured' for one loss but are still 500 to replace once. She recently went to a short term SNF, and despite my trying to show everyone how to place them in the charger each night, check if they were placed in correctly, before placing them in in the morning. If she goes to sleep with them in, the charge will not last. And they will often come out and get lost. She doesn't know enough except to say 'I cant hear', which she says often anyway. I just think it is so important to be able to hear so we can tell her what we're going to do to her, etc. She has a back up amplifyer head set but you have to speak into the mic which is tethered to the headset and she has to stop removing it because she can't remember what it is. She is switching to a board and care from a large memory care so I hope this is the last of the replacements. I will ask the SNF to reimburse us but I doubt if they will.
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Reply to MayGrey
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I bought retainers for hearing aides on Amazon. Little rubber bands attached to a lanyard attached to her shirt in brught colors. I put up big sign above her bed and on the charger . Speak to each cna about it too
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Reply to Kalamazootx1
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My husband’s grandmother had issues with her hearing aids. Sometimes it can be battery related. If you are unhappy with the staff you can discuss the matter with the administrator or supervisor. If you are looking for new hearing aids you can get a hearing screening from an audiologist to find the specific need for your family member. Hope you find the information helpful. Have a lovely day.
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Reply to Senior8
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Small items like hearing aids are likely to get lost, and no way to know who they belong to if found.
The reality in the nursing home is she will be responsible for putting them in and using them, and keeping them safe. Or at the least she would have to ask for help putting them in. I think it's too much to hope for to expect the nursing home staff to manage this daily.
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Reply to CaringWifeAZ
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statewise: Speak to the licensed social worker.
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Reply to Llamalover47
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We gave up on the very expensive hearing aids we had gotten for Mom just months before she fell and went in to a group home. I was able to locate them - and their charger - and take them to my house - maybe they can be refurbished for someone else (ME!)?

We did buy this cheap amplifier that she can put in her ears when we are visiting. We leave one at the group home (just in case but can't depend on it being charged or easy to find when we arrive) and we keep one so we can make sure it is turned off and kept charged.

It is cheap - it works when the buds stay in her ears, but they often don't, so I am going to be looking for a mid-priced option. I think the aides - and her medical team - just talk loud in her ears, but for a conversation with friends or family, it is nice to not have to do that for 30 minutes in a row. 😍

https://a.co/d/4Kg58Iv
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Reply to MomsBrain
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Please don't worry about hearing aids because 9 times out of 10, they will go missing.
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Reply to Onlychild2024
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Getting a cheap one that just provides general amplification is not the answer. They are more likely to cause your mom problems and not want to wear them. When my mom had short stays in a SNF, I ran into this problem. The only thing that I found that helped was talking to the nurse in charge of the floor and having someone there in the morning to check if they have been put in and if not to ask the nurse for them. If this doesn't work, then talk to either the DON or ADON and mention what you have tried. This is less likely to work if staffing is not consistent or there is high turnover. One problem that I also started having was my mom taking her hearing aids out and losing them. I solved this by purchasing "hearing aid minders (?)" Which was a silicon strap that attaches to both hearing aids and clips on the clothing.
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Reply to spectrum19007
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This falls under "not everything can be fixed".
You can TRY, but any planning around hearing aids will always fall short.
The best way to try is to be certain that your Mom's care plan contains needed information about her hearing aids available to whomever is working with her.
However:
1. Hearing aids today are very sophisticated, often require smartphones to get them working correctly.
2. Hearing aids are ALWAYS annoying whether because of sound management (too loud in some situations, too soft in others) and are often removed.
This leads to loss, which is the single most common thing to happen in their regard when the wearer is not completely able.

I am afraid you likely by now know all the things to "try". But am afraid that you will never get to perfection in management of hearing aids. The Forum, if you stay around, is full of hearing aid stories.
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Reply to AlvaDeer
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I do not feel you can trust the staff to put in and out a hearing aid. After much experience at nursing homes I give you an example: I asked the staff to brush my brother's teeth and did not notice they were not doing it until his teeth started falling out. I now go in every day to brush his teeth. It is appalling how bad the care is in many nursing homes. It horrifies me.
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Reply to Hatethis
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When we moved my mom into a memory care unit, we were basically told to leave her hearing aids (and anything else valuable) at home. They cannot be responsible for items that go missing! My mom has been known to take her hearing aids out and lay them down in unusual places, only to be lost for several weeks until we happen to find them. She would do the same at her new facility. Also, other residents in memory care sometimes pick up things they find pretty or interesting (they don't understand boundaries). It is best to leave them at home, if you are worried about them disappearing. If, however, you can get the staff to agree to put them in for her, purchase a clip that ties the two aids together and clips onto the back of her shirt (Amazon carries them). That way, if she does take them out, they simply hang from her shirt until someone removes them. It still doesn't guarantee that they won't get lost, but it should help. Good luck!
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Reply to Middle1
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My mom had so many old hearing aids, but none were what she needed. Some were over 20 years old probably and many were hand me downs from relatives. Last year I went on Amazon and bought her a set under $100. She claimed they broke, so I bought her another set, also under $100. She now has two working sets, and her favorite pair works really well. They are rechargeable, so we don't have to worry about lost batteries. If no staff member brings her hearing aids she gets in her wheelchair and rides up to the door where she knows all hearing aids are kept and waits very impatiently until someone gets them for her. I think the only days they don't get them first thing in the morning are the days she has a morning shower. That messes up their schedule a bit especially since mom complains bitterly about getting a shower and sometimes refuses or pitches a hissy fit. So far we have found the staff members are good about keeping up with hearing aids and false teeth. They are a very routine based facility thankfully. In almost two years I think I had to go down to the hearing aid room less than ten times to collect her hearing aids for her, almost always on a shower day.
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Reply to JustAnon
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Yes, they should make sure the hearing aids are put in the residents' ears. If they're not doing it, speak with the Director of Nursing or some other administrator.

That, however, doesn't guarantee that they'll stay in the ears. Sometimes the person takes them out. I've found DH's in a cookie box, an activity box, the bedding, on the floor, in a magazine, and any number of other places. BUT when they are in his ears, he communicates and understands about 100 times better, so it's worth making sure he has them.

Other residents at his facility sometimes take them, even though much effort is spent on keeping them from doing that.

Nobody ever said that caregiving is easy. For those of you who think we "dump" our LOs in a care facility, please realize that even though they live there, we spend much of our time dealing with issues to keep them happy and comfortable, such as making sure they have their hearing aids.
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Reply to Fawnby
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Have you asked the admins of the facility if this is something that is included in the contract? There's nothing to say that the residents themselves aren't the ones removing the hearing aids and misplacing them. My Mom removes hers and it drives me nuts. My Aunt in MC kept removing her dentures then folding them up in a napkin and putting them o her food train so they were thrown out. Is this the facility's responsibility to know the whereabouts of these personal items?
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Reply to Geaton777
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I'm going to agree with cwillie - I wish you luck. CNAs and Nurses have so much on their plates in a given shift that hearing aids are probably not super high on their list of priorities, if I'm being honest.

My FIL had 26% of his hearing in one ear and 22% in the other. We took his hearing aids (very nice, expensive ones that the VA paid for). If I had to guess, I would say that they were never in his ears while he was there. He could actually put them in himself. but he never once asked for them. And we did not ask the facility to put them in for him. He listened to the tv on highest volume at home because he wouldn't wear them.

So we took them back home to avoid losing them entirely.

There are going to be "hills to die on" with facility care, because an individual is not going to get 1:1 24/7 care. Hearing aids, glasses, phones, etc go missing all the time unfortunately.
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Reply to BlueEyedGirl94
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I was with my Mom when she got her hearing aides. The doctor was my husbands doctor too. He told me he had just been asked to go see a patient in LTC, she could not hear with her aides. He found that at this facility hearing aides were kept at the nurses station and First shift was responsible for putting them on the residents. He examined the aide and found...there was no battery in it. He took it to the nurses station and told the nurse there that without batteries, hearing aides don't work.

I don't know if a note will solve your problem. Glasses and hearing aides are lost all the time.
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Reply to JoAnn29
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All I can say is good luck with that. The best advice I've seen on the forum is to ask that the HAs are kept on the medication cart and their use is supervised by the RPN/LPN on duty, but even then Likely nobody will be checking the wax guards or ensuring the batteries are replaced.
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Reply to cwillie
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