Abstract: Objective To investigate the effect of touch nursing combined with ear canal care in newborn hearing screening on the accuracy of screening results. Methods A total of 112 newborns born in Weifang Maternal and Child Health Hospital from August 2022 to April 2023 were randomly divided into 56 cases in the control group and 56 cases in the observation group. The control group was given routine ear canal care, and the observation group was combined with touch care on the basis of the control group. The results of the first screening and re-screening of newborns' hearing test, the excellent rate of newborns' status during the test, the time from emotional agitation to stabilization during the test, and the scores of Newborn Infant Pain Scale (NIPS) were compared between the two groups. Results The first and second screening pass rates, as well as the good condition rate during the testing process of the newborns in the observation group with touch combined with ear canal care were higher than those in the control group with single ear canal care, and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05), and the time of emotional stabilization and the NIPS scores of the newborns in the observation group were lower than those in the control group (P<0.05). Conclusion Touch nursing combined with ear canal care can effectively appease the emotional state of newborns during hearing screening, reduce the false-positive rate of newborn hearing screening results, and improve the accuracy of hearing screening.

Key words: newborns, hearing screening, ear canal care, touch nursing