Management of Care Q 10
You are supervising a senior nursing student who is caring for a patient with a right hemisphere stroke. Which action by the student nurse requires that you intervene?
A. The student instructs the patient to sit up straight, resulting in the patient’s puzzled expression.
B. The student moves the patient’s tray to the right side of her over-bed tray.
C. The student assists the patient with passive range-of-motion (ROM) exercises.
D. The student combs the left side of the patient’s hair when the patient combs only the right side.
Correct Answer: A. The student instructs the patient to sit up straight, resulting in the patient’s puzzled expression.
Patients with right cerebral hemisphere stroke often present with neglect syndrome. They lean to the left and when asked, respond that they believe they are sitting up straight. They often neglect the left side of their bodies and ignore food on the left side of their food trays. The nurse would need to remind the student of this phenomenon and discuss the appropriate interventions.
Option B: They often ignore the food on the left side of their food trays, so reminding them is a correct action.
Option C: Passive range of motion exercises help keep the left side of the patient’s body from atrophy as a result of unuse.
Option D: This is a correct action of the student nurse, as the patient may neglect the left side of the body.