Hello, Andrea! Our group has been able to list specific examples of independent nursing interventions to address the concern you raised.
For patients with glaucoma, adjusting to vision loss or possible visual loss can be a challenging and difficult process. Nurses have a crucial role in supporting patients throughout this trying period by offering interventions, information, and support. Here are several ways a nurse can use to help glaucoma patients cope with their vision loss:
- Providing education and information about glaucoma, its progression, and the importance of adherence to treatment plans that includes medication adherence, regular eye examinations, and monitoring intraocular pressure to prevent further loss.
- Asking the patient what type of assistance is preferred for grooming, toileting, eating, and ambulating; communicate these preferences with the family members as well.
- Providing emotional support to patients with this condition is also important since losing one’s vision does not only affect the patient’s physical state, as it also involves psychological, social, and vocational consequences.
- Involving the family members in creating the plan of care to ensure the continuity of interventions that they can provide.
- Teaching caregivers how to care for patients with vision loss to ensure safety, independence, and well-being of individuals affected by significant visual impairment.
- Introducing and demonstrating adaptive devices, technologies, and techniques designed to assist those with vision loss.
- Implementing fall prevention measures to enhance patient’s safety as a way of adjusting and preventing hazards inside their home and environment.
- Orienting the patient to the environment, counting steps with him or her to the bathroom.
- Helping the patient place objects on the bedside table and do not move them without the patient’s permission.