Sensory

•Senses of taste and smell are related

•Taste buds decrease after age 50

 •Taste disorders usually occur as a result of injury or illness, head injury, side effects from medications, zinc deficiency, decreased saliva production

 

•Anosmia- lack of the ability to smell anything at all

•Hyposmia- reduction in the ability to perceive odors

Causes of olfactory disorders: nasal/sinus disease, upper respiratory infection, head trauma, smoking,

• touch

• Taste & smell

• Anosmia

• Hyposomia

Peripheral Neuropathy

•Occurs following damage to peripheral nerves

•Most often affects the feet and hands

•Manifestations: weakness, numbness, burning, tingling, pain, inability to detect temp, hyporeflexia

Idiopathic Neuropathy

•Neuropathy due to nerve damage of unknown cause

Diabetic Neuropathy

•Nerve damage that occurs in clients who have diabetes mellitus

•Occurs over time from high blood glucose levels and high levels of triglyceride that cause damage to the nerves and small blood vessels

• Neuropathy

• Touch

• Diagnostic

• Otoxcity

•Skin contains receptors and nerve pathways for touch, temp, pain, and movement

 

•Tactile hypersensitivity- overly sensitive to sensory input

•May experience pain with otherwise nonpainful tactile stimuli

•Avoid touch

•Tactile hyposensitivity- under responsive to tactile stimulation

•May not feel extremes in temp

•Limited ability to feel pain from bone fractures or lacerations

•May seek out tactile stimulation by frequently touching objects

• Touch

• .

•Clients who experience impaired speech should have a neurological exam performed by a provider.

•Labs

•MRI

 •If no life-threatening issues such as stroke or brain tumor, further testing may be performed by neurologist or speech/language pathologist

• Diagnostics

• .

•Causing damage or dysfunction of the cochlea or vestibule

 

•Many medications have an adverse effect of ototoxicity

•antibiotics (aminoglycosides, macrolides), aspirin, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), cardiac medications, antimalarials, loop diuretics, and some chemotherapeutic agents

 

•Ototoxicity can cause hearing loss, tinnitus, dizziness, or impaired balance

• .

• Ototoxicity

•Sensorineural: most prevalent

Most Common Cause: problem in inner ear or auditory nerve

Other causes: chromosomal abnormality, congenital infection, preterm birth, low birth weight, neonatal sepsis, hyperbilirubinemia, measles, mumps meningitis

Can also be related to exposure to loud noises over a long period of time, trauma to ear, heart disease, diabetes

•Conductive: sounds cannot travel from outer ear to the eardrum and middle ear

Causes: ear trauma, inflammation, cerumen impaction, perforated eardrum, foreign body

•Mixed Loss

 

•Presbycusis- age related hearing loss that occurs gradually and bilaterally

• Types of hearing loss

• .

Tags

NGSS.4-LS1-2

•Hearing loss can occur in any portion of the ear at any time

•Causes: infection, injury, genetic abnormality, aging, exposure to loud noise

 

•Tinnitus: experience of hearing sound when no external sound is present

•Causes: age-related hearing loss, an ear injury, cerumen, circulatory system issues

•May occur in one or both ears

•(ringing, buzzing, roaring, clicking, hissing, or humming noise)

• .

• Hearing

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS1-5

Educate patients about eye health, prevention of eye disorders, importance of regular eye exams, healthy diet, maintaining blood sugar and blood pressure levels

• Crisis intervention

• Nursing interventions

• Stress management

•Children should have first comprehensive eye exam prior to entering 1stgrade

•Children should have eye exam every 2 years if no vision problems or family history of vision problems

 

•Adults without vision problems need an eye exam every 2 years

•Age 65 and older need an annual eye exam

 

•For clients with vision problems, eye disease, or chronic illness that can affect the eyes, annual eye exams are needed

• Eye Exam Recommendations

• .

•Visual acuity testing is needed if an alteration in vision is suspected

•Can be assessed by client reading printed material for near vision

•Snellen eye chart for distant vision

 

•Snellen chart measures how accurately the client can read lines of letters various sizes

•Cient sits or stands 20 feet away from chart, and with both eyes open begins with smallest line they can see. The client then covers one eye at a time, reading smallest line of letters they can see with each individual eye.

 

•When a client reads the line of letters marked 20/20, it means they can see what the average person sees on the chart when they are 20 feet away

•For clients who wear corrective lenses, visual acuity testing should be performed with and without corrective lenses

• Diagnostics

• .