One time the charge nurse asked me to turn this patient who was comatose and could not close his eyes.
He had no curtain and the sun was glaring in. I told her, "I did not turn him because the sun is in his eyes...."
She agreed with me.
Later on in another nursing home, I found a stroke patient who could not move and who was postitioned with
the sun burning her eyes out. One charge nurse had already asked us not to leave her like this and no one could remember.
Everyone who does patient care should try facing into the sun with your eyes shut when it's glaring in the window and see how many seconds you can stay there. This is memorable and instensely painful.
The last time I found a patient stuck this way I wrote a note to the DoN and alerted everyone to it.
I said I would call DHS if I found her this way again. From then on, they always turned her back to the sun.
Even with the curtain shut, it still can hurt their eyes.
this is just scary, Hello what would you want done if it were you. You need to turn your pt and you can close the eyes yourself and tape them or something. I fill bad for the guy even without the light shinning in his eyes. Try holding your eyes open for a min and it is very painfull. This should be a part of basic care that you give to your pt.
I don't think having their eyes taped is enough protection. They just shouldn't be facing into the sun. I would agree with the other posters that turning the bed around would be a better option.
I also agree with their idea to face the patients away from the sun during hours when it glares in can work as long as people get back to turn them when they're supposed to.
My point here is not about having excuses not to turn the patients or that they don't need good eye care but that they should never be facing into the sun.
It's like I said to one of my co-workers one day, "This is not a prison camp. The sun is burning her eyes out." Luckily, she was good natured and did not take this as an attack on her.
I'm wondering if having all these things on the patient is really comfortable for them. Speaking strictly for myself, I wouldn't be able to rest with tape or styrofoam cups on my eyes.
We were taught about doing this in nursing school. Not that EVERYTHING you are taught in nursing school is practical in the real world...I'm just sayin'
Specializes in Peds, PACU, ICU, ER, OB, MED-Surg,.
Perhaps the complaint should not be facing them towards the sun, but why is there no curtains for protection/privacy? All windows should have a covering for the patient's privacy. Good God they are actually turning the patients, don't stop them!
One time the charge nurse asked me to turn this patient who was comatose and could not close his eyes.
He had no curtain and the sun was glaring in. I told her, "I did not turn him because the sun is in his eyes...."
She agreed with me.
Later on in another nursing home, I found a stroke patient who could not move and who was postitioned with
the sun burning her eyes out. One charge nurse had already asked us not to leave her like this and no one could remember.
Everyone who does patient care should try facing into the sun with your eyes shut when it's glaring in the window and see how many seconds you can stay there. This is memorable and instensely painful.
The last time I found a patient stuck this way I wrote a note to the DoN and alerted everyone to it.
I said I would call DHS if I found her this way again. From then on, they always turned her back to the sun.
Even with the curtain shut, it still can hurt their eyes.
Good for you for being such an excellent advocate for your patients! One question/suggestion: What about using a sleep mask in addition to curtains? They're pretty thick. That would protect the patient's eyes while allowing them to have a wider range of positions available to minimize the risk of pressure sores. I know you wouldn't want the fabric pressed up against the patient's eyeballs, but it seems like there should be a way to make it work.
very interesting. Which direction is the window facing? the sun cannot be glaring in all the time. What about timing the turning to allow for his back or side to face the window during the sunny part of the day?
Logical deduction! That is what is called "critical thinking" , a nurse/CNA or the dog catcher can surmise this solution. The original contributor to this post is lacking simple common sense.
We were taught about doing this in nursing school. Not that EVERYTHING you are taught in nursing school is practical in the real world...I'm just sayin'
Part of the problem with taping their eyes shut and styrofoam cups or a cloth over their eyes is that the sun
Logical deduction! That is what is called "critical thinking" , a nurse/CNA or the dog catcher can surmise this solution. The original contributor to this post is lacking simple common sense.
Arranging a turning schedule is the least anyone can do.
This is what I am trying to get across in the first place.
In this case I had refused to turn this patient because I thought we should wait until the sun was out of the window. I thought this would be obviious.
It might take 20 minutes or two hours but no patient should ever be facing into the sun.
Logical deduction! That is what is called "critical thinking" , a nurse/CNA or the dog catcher can surmise this solution. The original contributor to this post is lacking simple common sense.
In order for this to work you have to convince your team members that there is an issue and that the sun is a threat to the patients, which both on and off the web has proven to be a challenge.
In my report to the charge nurse one night I asked that one of my patients be moved to a room where the sun was not glaring in and got not results. I begged my co-workers not to leave her facing into the sun and got no results until I finally threatened to call DHS and that was the only thing they understood.
The real issue here is not that I couldn't think of a solution but that you JUST SHOULD NOT LEAVE THEM
very interesting. Which direction is the window facing? the sun cannot be glaring in all the time. What about timing the turning to allow for his back or side to face the window during the sunny part of the day?
This would not work in the real world as you know nurses are constantly running around and cannot fit into their plan as to when the sun is glaring in the patient's window or not; or if it's overcast then suddenly the sun pops out. As you can see it would not work.
It's sad that the supervisor cannot come up with something that would work, if this were my family, there would be a "safe" solution!
if this were my family, there would be a "safe" solution!
Alnitak7
561 Posts
I don't think having their eyes taped is enough protection. They just shouldn't be facing into the sun. I would agree with the other posters that turning the bed around would be a better option.
I also agree with their idea to face the patients away from the sun during hours when it glares in can work as long as people get back to turn them when they're supposed to.