Letters
Communicating with deaf people
Stethoscope is a hearing aid
BMJ 2010; 341 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.c5985 (Published 26 October 2010) Cite this as: BMJ 2010;341:c5985
Doctors tend to shout when communicating with deaf patients, and in open wards this makes a nonsense of confidentiality.1 Speaking quietly into the diaphragm of the stethoscope, as if it were a microphone, after placing the earpieces in the ears of the patient aids both communication and confidentiality.
Notes
Cite this as: BMJ 2010;341:c5985
Footnotes
Competing interests: None declared.