How to screen hearing and vision in an older adult
Other platforms explain it with text and video. In Making Synapses you practice it on the patient.
Hearing and vision loss raise the risk of falls, isolation and confusion. Simple bedside screens find problems that are easy to help.
Step by step
Ask first
Ask if the patient has trouble hearing in conversation or seeing to read or drive. [1]
Check ears
Look for earwax blocking the canal before testing hearing. [1]
Do the whisper test
Stand behind the patient, cover one ear, and whisper a few numbers into the other. Repeat on the other side. [1]
Test vision
Use a Snellen chart at the right distance, one eye at a time, with glasses on. [1]
Look for fall links
Poor vision is a known fall risk. Check if glasses are current. [2]
Refer when abnormal
Refer to audiology or eye care when screens are abnormal. [1]
Common errors
- Testing vision without the patient's glasses.
- Letting the patient lip-read during the whisper test.
- Ignoring earwax.
Practice it in Making Synapses
In Making Synapses you do this on the patient, not on paper: every step goes on the checklist with a score, and in Teach mode Blocky tells you what comes next.
Making Synapses cases that train this skill
- Fall risk at home, older adult
- Parkinson disease, home safety
- Intimate partner violence in pregnancy
- Neonatal jaundice
- Bleeding after prostatectomy
- Tension pneumothorax
35 Making Synapses cases train this skill: open the case library
Sources
Facts and steps follow CDC STEADI (falls in older adults); NCSBN 2026 NCLEX-RN Test Plan. Making Synapses is not affiliated with these organizations. Updated: 2026-10-11.