Question

A school nurse is conducting hearing screening procedures in an elementary school. Which of the following instructions should the nurse provide when performing the Rinne test?

a) Instruct the child to raise their hand when they hear a sound
b) Place the tuning fork on the mastoid bone and then in front of the ear
c) Ask the child to identify the direction of sound
d) Use an otoscope to visualize the ear canal

Answer 1

For the Rinne test, the nurse should place the tuning fork on the mastoid bone, then move it to in front of the ear canal, and ask the child to indicate when they can hear the sound.

Step-by-step explanation:

The school nurse should provide the following instructions when performing the Rinne test: Place the vibrating tuning fork on the child's mastoid bone behind the ear and instruct the child to signal when they can no longer hear the sound. Once they indicate that they can no longer hear it, the tuning fork should then be moved in front of the ear canal. If air conduction is better than bone conduction, the child should hear the tuning fork again. If not, this could indicate conductive hearing loss.