Question

The nurse is teaching parents of a child with cataracts about the upcoming treatment. The nurse should give the parents what information about the treatment of cataracts?

a. "The treatment may require more than one surgery."
b. "It is corrected with biconcave lenses that focus rays on the retina."
c. "Cataracts require surgery to remove the cloudy lens and replace it."
d. "Treatment is with a corrective lenses; no surgery is necessary."

Answer 1

The correct information the nurse should give is that cataracts require surgery to remove and replace the clouded lens with an intraocular lens, potentially allowing for good distant vision. The power of the intraocular lens differs based on the patient's previous vision condition, and whether they can read without glasses varies individually. c. "Cataracts require surgery to remove the cloudy lens and replace it."

Step-by-step explanation:

The nurse should provide the following information to the parents of a child with cataracts: "Cataracts require surgery to remove the cloudy lens and replace it." During the procedure, known as cataract surgery, the clouded lens is removed and typically replaced with a clear artificial lens called an intraocular lens (IOL) to restore vision. While it's possible to achieve good distant vision with an IOL, whether the person can read without glasses depends on factors such as the type of IOL and if they had previous vision issues like nearsightedness or farsightedness.

For nearsightedness, which causes distant objects to appear blurry, the power of the intraocular lens would be less than the removed lens to correct the focal point, ensuring that light is focused on, rather than in front of, the retina. Conversely, with hyperopia (farsightedness), where close objects are blurry, treatment involves a converging lens to focus light correctly onto the retina or reshaping the cornea to increase its curvature.