Abstract
This issue of Workplace Health & Safety contains a Continuing Nursing Education Module on “The Impact of Annual Audiograms on Employee’s Habits and Awareness Regarding Hearing Protection and Noise Induced Hearing Loss, On and Off the Job” 1.0 contact hour of continuing nursing education credit will be awarded by AAOHN upon successful completion of the posttest and evaluation.
A certificate will be awarded when the following requirements are met by the participant: (1) Participant logs on to the AAOHN LMS website at www.aaohn.org/education/online-learning-center and enrolls in the course ($10 members; $15 non-members); (2) The completed posttest and course evaluation are entered online at http://www.aaohn.org by April 2020; (3) A score of 75% (6 correct answers) is achieved by the participant.
Upon completion of this lesson, the occupational health nurse will be able to:
Discuss the characteristics of a comprehensive and effective hearing conservation program (HCP)
Explain the impact of a HCP on employee awareness of noise, beliefs and use about hearing protection devices (HPD) both at work and at home
The American Association of Occupational Health Nurses, Inc. is an Approved Provider of continuing nursing education by the American Association of Occupational Health Nurses, Inc., an accredited approver by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation.
The American Association of Occupational Health Nurses, Inc. is additionally approved as a CNE provider by the California Board of Registered Nursing (#CEP9283).
Contact hours received for successful completion of the posttest and evaluation may be used for relicensure, certification, and re-certification.
has no effect on employee morale maintains stable production levels is cost-prohibitive for most employers reduces incidence of stress-related diseases
90 dB 85 dB 80 dB 75 dB
cultural and family focus developmental and goal-directed focus printed materials and psychological testing sociologic and economic considerations
comfort and ability to hear warning signals restrictions of head movement and visual field comfort and secure fit of HPD inability to hear co-workers and entanglement of HPD in machinery
Mostly, employees were under age 30, used earplugs, and had been enrolled in HCP 1–5 years Mostly, employees were over age 51 and had been enrolled in HCP 6–8 years Almost all of the employees were unconcerned about losing their hearing over time Few employees thought that annual hearing tests affected home hearing protection habits
a small sample size use of a survey a potentially misleading question a diverse group of employee participants
repeating the survey every few years including supervisors in surveys assessing employee attitudes and knowledge of HPD recruiting a sample size consistent with the original sample