[Durgical](https://durgical.com/en/) › [DurgiPedia](https://durgical.com/en/durgipedia/) › [Nursing](https://durgical.com/en/nursing/) › [Medical–surgical nursing](https://durgical.com/en/nursing/areas/med-surg/) › Hearing loss and vertigo: hearing-aid care, communication, ear surgery and fall safety # Hearing loss and vertigo: hearing-aid care, communication, ear surgery and fall safety - Safe practice The nurse adapts how they talk to a person with hearing loss, keeps hearing devices in use and protects the patient with vertigo from falls. Updated Nov 13, 2026 ## Key points - Face the person at about 1–2 m in good light, keep your mouth visible and cut background noise. - Speak a little louder without shouting; if a word is not understood, use a different word instead of repeating it. - During a vertigo attack: lie still with the eyes closed, avoid sudden movements, and walk only with help. - BPPV is set off by head movements such as rolling over in bed or looking up; avoid the positions that trigger it. - Vertigo with weakness, slurred speech or vision problems needs medical help at once. ## What it is Hearing loss may be conductive (outer or middle ear), which is often treatable, or sensorineural (inner-ear hair cells), which often cannot be reversed. The nurse adapts the way the whole team communicates. Vertigo is a false sense of spinning. In benign paroxysmal positional vertigo it is brief and set off by head movements; in Ménière disease attacks last from about 20 minutes to a day, with fluctuating hearing loss, ear fullness and ringing. During an attack the main nursing risks are falls and, with frequent vomiting, dehydration. Vertigo with weakness, slurred speech or vision problems is not a simple inner-ear problem and needs medical help at once. ## What it requires - The patient's communication needs and hearing devices recorded in the care plan. - A quiet, well-lit place for important conversations. - Fall precautions for patients with vertigo. - Watch on vomiting and fluid intake when vertigo is severe. ## Components - Communication with the person with hearing loss. - Hearing aids and other devices. - Safety during vertigo attacks. - Teaching for home. ## How it is applied (and why) - Ask how the patient hears best and which devices they use, and record it in the care plan: the whole team then communicates the same way. - Face the patient at about 1–2 m in good light; do not cover your mouth, eat or chew while talking: lip reading and gestures help. - Turn off the TV or radio and choose a quiet place: background noise makes understanding harder. - Use the person's name, say when the topic changes and never talk about them as if they were not there. - Keep the hearing aid within the patient's reach and store it as the institutional protocol states. - During a vertigo attack, help the patient lie still with the eyes closed, away from bright light, TV and reading. - Apply fall precautions and help the patient to walk during and after attacks: sudden dizziness causes falls. - Watch vomiting and fluid intake, and report them: severe vertigo with frequent vomiting can cause dehydration. - Teach the person with Ménière disease not to drive, use heavy machinery or climb until a week after symptoms stop. ## In nursing practice - The Epley manoeuvre repositions the displaced particles in the inner ear and works best for BPPV; it may need repeating. - Antihistamines often do not work well for BPPV. - In Ménière disease a low-salt diet may help, and surgery is considered when symptoms are severe; some operations cause complete hearing loss in that ear. - Treatments for hearing loss include surgery, hearing aids, cochlear implants and assistive devices; ear-surgery care follows the surgeon's instructions. - For earwax and ear irrigation, see eye and ear irrigation; for daily care of people with sensory loss, see sensory alterations. ## Common mistakes - Shouting or exaggerating words, which distorts the sound. - Repeating the same misunderstood word instead of choosing another. - Not asking about hearing aids and other devices on admission. - Letting the patient get up alone during a vertigo attack. ## Test yourself Think of the answer, then tap the question to see it. ## Where should the nurse stand when talking to a person with hearing loss? Facing the person at about 1–2 m, in good light, with the mouth and gestures visible. ## What should the nurse do when a person with hearing loss does not understand a word? Choose a different word or phrase instead of repeating the same one, and speak a little louder without shouting. ## What sets off benign paroxysmal positional vertigo? Head movements, such as rolling over in bed or tilting the head up; the spinning lasts seconds to minutes. ## Which signs with vertigo need medical help at once? Weakness, slurred speech or vision problems, which may point to a more serious problem than the inner ear. [Add to my cards (4)](https://durgical.app/estudiar/?add=/en/nursing/hearing-loss-and-vertigo-hearing-aid-care-communication-ear-surgery-and-fall-saf/) ## Connections ## Related 3 - [Sensory alterations: deprivation, overload and caring for people with vision or hearing loss](https://durgical.com/en/nursing/sensory-alterations-deprivation-overload-and-caring-for-people-with-vision-or-he/) - [Preventing falls: risk assessment and measures](https://durgical.com/en/nursing/preventing-falls-risk-assessment-and-measures/) - [Eye and ear irrigation](https://durgical.com/en/nursing/eye-and-ear-irrigation/) ## Related conditions 4 - [Hearing loss (conductive and sensorineural, including sudden hearing loss)](https://durgical.com/en/conditions/hearing-loss/) - [Presbycusis (age-related hearing loss)](https://durgical.com/en/conditions/presbycusis/) - [Ménière disease](https://durgical.com/en/conditions/meniere-disease/) - [Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV)](https://durgical.com/en/conditions/benign-paroxysmal-positional-vertigo/) [← All of nursing](https://durgical.com/en/nursing/) Educational content for students; it does not replace your institution's protocols, supervised clinical training or a prescriber's order. Dose-calculation examples use made-up numbers: they are educational, not a clinical order. Sources: [Hearing loss](https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/003044.htm) (MedlinePlus, U.S. National Library of Medicine, 2025); [Talking to someone with hearing loss](https://medlineplus.gov/ency/patientinstructions/000361.htm) (MedlinePlus, U.S. National Library of Medicine, 2025); [Benign positional vertigo](https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/001420.htm) (MedlinePlus, U.S. National Library of Medicine, 2025); [Ménière disease](https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/000702.htm) (MedlinePlus, U.S. National Library of Medicine, 2025). ## **Spotted a mistake?** We are always improving for the community. Tell us what is wrong and our team will review it. Report a mistake Representative model, for educational purposes only. --- Source: https://durgical.com/en/nursing/hearing-loss-and-vertigo-hearing-aid-care-communication-ear-surgery-and-fall-saf/ License: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Cite as: DurgiPedia (durgical.com), https://durgical.com/en/nursing/hearing-loss-and-vertigo-hearing-aid-care-communication-ear-surgery-and-fall-saf/