Christa Fullwood, ABSN’17, noticed a need in the emergency room setting for patients who are deaf and wanted to make a difference. Working with graduate students at Duke Pratt School of Engineering, Fullwood developed an application that will help health care professionals, nurses in particular, communicate with deaf patients in emergency situations.

“Patients can wait close to an hour for an interpreter in an emergency situation,” said Fullwood. “Do we just say, ‘hang on, your emergency is going to have to wait because we don’t know how to communicate with you?’ No, we have to bridge that gap.”

The idea for the application came to Fullwood while talking to a classmate who is deaf. Fullwood said it made her think about patients who are deaf and how ASL interpreters are not as plentiful as other interpreters, such as those who translate for Spanish speaking patients. “The chances of an interpreter being on staff…if a patient who is deaf comes in at 2 a.m... is unlikely. There is a gap in care if the medical staff has to wait for a hired interpreter to arrive and it’s a gap that needs to be filled,” she said.

In the Fall of 2016, Fullwood began an independent study course facilitated by Beth Phillips, PhD, RN, CNE, associate professor for Duke University School of Nursing. Fullwood credits Phillips for pushing her past her comfort zone. “I originally wanted to create a pamphlet for emergency departments that could be used when deaf patients arrived,” she said. “Dr. Phillips politely told me that I was off to a great start, but no one reads pamphlets now. She said I really needed to have something that was electronic.”

Interdisciplinary Collaboration

After brainstorming with Phillips, Fullwood submitted a proposal application to Duke graduate students who were creating applications. Fullwood’s application was accepted by graduate computer engineering students Olympios Georgios Petrakis from Thessaloniki, Greece and Ian Kaszubski from Akron, Ohio.

“I am always motivated to build things that can be useful to people,” Petrakis said. “This application may help optimize health care for hearing impaired patients and that is very meaningful to me.”

Kaszubski credits this type of interdisciplinary collaboration in fostering innovative solutions for health care. “I hope this application offers emergency department personnel an extra tool in their bag so they can provide the very best care they can. On a larger scale, I hope this shows how the continued integration of software and health care is a powerful force that will revolutionize health care for both modern and developing societies.”

Fullwood graduated this May, but will continue to work with Petrakis and Kaszubski on the application. The trio are currently working on phase 1 of the project and ensuring it runs smoothly. Phase 2 will include adding to the dictionary of words and setting up a system that may allow users to receive continuing education credits.

“We want the finished product to bridge the gap between our current health care and the deaf population,” Fullwood said. “Just because someone is deaf does not mean that they should have to wait for an interpreter before we can care for them. Excellent patient care means being able to explain to them what’s going on with their care, what procedures they will need or even talk to them in general in a timely manner.”

Fullwood said that she thinks individuals who are deaf may be discouraged from coming to the hospital because of the lack of interpreting services that are sometimes offered. She believes it’s not fair and as health care providers “limited availability” isn’t a viable excuse.

For health care providers who would like to become pilot users of the application, contact Christa Fullwood at christafullwood@aol.com.