A female patient is diagnosed with a right stroke. The patient is now experiencing hemianopsia. How might the nurse help the patient manage her potential sensory and perceptional difficulties?
A) Keep the lighting in the patient's room low.
B) Place the patient's clock on the affected side.
C) Approach the patient on the side the vision impaired.
D) Place the patient's extremities where she can see them.
Ans: D
Feedback: Patients with a decreased field of vision should be approached on the side where visual perception is intact. All visual stimuli (clock, calendar, and television) should be placed on this side. The patient can be taught to turn the head in the direction of the defective visual field to compensate for this loss. Increasing the natural or artificial lighting in the room and providing eyeglasses are important in increasing vision. The patient with homonymous hemianopsia (loss of half of the visual field) turns away from the affected side of the body and tends to neglect that side and the space on that side; this is called amorphosynthesis. In such instances, the patient cannot see food on half of the tray, and only half of the room is visible. It is important for the nurse to remind the patient constantly of the other side of the body, to maintain alignment of the extremities, and if possible, to place the extremities where the patient can see them. There is no reason to keep the lights dim.
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