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.
Leaving a comatose patient with the sun glaring into their face is an act of cruelty. It is more painful than bedsores. Eye drops and eye covers are not always enough.
The good careplan and turning schedule are something that the whole nursing staff has to agree on.
I found it hard to get them to listen, even when the patient's skin was burned and she could not even move to cover up her eyes.
Some of these patients I see left staring into the sun had indifferent nurses who I could not get through to
until I threatened to call the state. This was what it took to get her on a turning schedule.
I saw two seperate patients in home care who were left this way by PUSHY, AGGRESSIVE, family members.
They said, "The sun is not, "burning her eyes out," she can just close her eyes," or, "You can't bow to her every whim."
In one case, I got my patient to sit on the other side of the room after the relatives (who were at work) demanded that I keep the blinds open while they were gone. This drove both me and my patient insane when we were there alone.
SOMETIMES WE ARE THE PATIENT'S ONLY ADVOCATE!! PLEASE KEEP THIS UP! GOOD FOR YOU, I'M SO PROUD OF NURSES LIKE YOU WHO "FIGHT" FOR THEIR PATIENT'S NEEDS!! GOOD LESSON FOR THESE NEW NURSES JUST COMING OUT OF SCHOOL. ALWAYS FIGHT FOR YOUR PATIENTS RIGHTS/NEEDS!!!! ONE DAY YOUR OWN FAMILY MEMBER COULD BE AT THE HANDS OF A NURSE WHO JUST DOESN'T "CARE".
It has happened to me now several times since I started this ancient thread that I ended up in a place with hot glaring sun that even when I shut
my eyes and had sunglasses and it is intensely painful and I never forgot it.
I will beg and plead with you one more time, do NOT leave your helpless patients (or animals) facing into the sun!
This is a human rights abuse and not just patient abuse.
In one house, I had a hostile belligerent comment that "she can just close her eyes" which
is NOT a solution, as if I wanted to argue.
In another, I was told firmly that "You can't bow to her every whim," and they demanded that I ignore my patients request to be
kept out of the sun.
Some posters here suggested that I move the bed across the room and made it look like I was an idiot.
1. The patient's room was packed full of furniture and I would be accused of "fooling around."
2. I would have to get my very stubborn and arrogant co-workers to agree to help move the furniture aside.
3. She really just needed to be moved to another room where the sun does not glare in.
As for the first patient, (with no curtains) you first have to alert the staff not to leave them stuck in the sun before any other solution works as I can't stay there and watch them 24/7.
Eye drops are not the answer. Taping their eyes shut is not the answer. Cups on their eyes are not a solution. Thanks anyway for these
suggestions. The sun does not just burn their eyes out, it makes them sweaty.
Try standing in front of a window with the sun glaring in and see how many seconds you can stand there.
What really scares me on this thread is how many posters thought this is not patient abuse. It also scares me to think of the ones who might
become indignant and might ignore my pleas.
For the four patients I found like this there must be at least a thousand more of them still going through the same abuse which is actually
torture and should never happen. Do you really think I can walk into every building across the globe to get through to people?
How do I get people to see that this is torture? It is not enough that I have to "think for a minute!" This is about
getting thousands of people to see the problem and do something about it.
Eye drops are not the answer. Taping their eyes shut is not the answer. Cups on their eyes are not a solution.
I know this thread is really, really old, so forgive me....
I realize that laying with the sun in one's eyes is uncomfortable. But, you have to think of some solution. You know what else is uncomfortable for the patient? Sepsis 2/2 a pressure ulcer. What is uncomfortable for a nurse? Defending oneself in a law suit because you did not turn your patient. Reasonable solutions were offered; you have to do something.
I know this thread is really, really old, so forgive me....
I realize that laying with the sun in one's eyes is uncomfortable. But, you have to think of some solution. You know what else is uncomfortable for the patient? Sepsis 2/2 a pressure ulcer. What is uncomfortable for a nurse? Defending oneself in a law suit because you did not turn your patient. Reasonable solutions were offered; you have to do something.
I actually went back and re-read my original post trying to figure where I went wrong. This is not that the sun is in their eyes and I'm wondering what I should do. This is that I can't get across to the general public that leaving a helpless patient facing into the sun is patient abuse with no laws to protect them.
Taping their eyes is not enough. Patients will probably not get pressure ulcers over the twenty or thirty minutes they're left until the sun is out of the window. To answer the question, I would not like my eyes taped shut. I'm glad the charge nurse I talked about understood my concern and that I was frantic when I saw the sun in my patient's 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.
GOOD LESSON FOR THESE NEW NURSES JUST COMING OUT OF SCHOOL. ALWAYS FIGHT FOR YOUR PATIENTS RIGHTS/NEEDS!!!! ONE DAY YOUR OWN FAMILY MEMBER COULD BE AT THE HANDS OF A NURSE WHO JUST DOESN'T "CARE". 
BabyLady, BSN, RN
2,300 Posts
I guess I don't understand why a thin strip of silk tape cannot be lightly applied to the eyelid to the face to allow the eyes to close.
This should be done even if the eyes are not facing sunlight because of moisture loss.
The tape should be changed q12..it should stay closed because it's not like you have someone trying to force them back open.