Right brain-left brain: the nurse consultant and behavior change following stroke

In summary, I have made suggestions for working with staff to promote empathy for the stroke patient presenting with behavior problems. All of us take for granted our "two ways of knowing," the richness of our experience being promoted by the two sides of our brain. When brain damage occurs, the results are sometimes dramatic as with paralysis or expressive aphasia, and sometimes subtle as with receptive aphasia and certain visual-spatial problems. Nursing staff provide the care which otherwise would have been self care. When expectations are low, patients withdraw and staff "care ... less." When expectations are high, patients become symptomatic, staff burned out. The nurse consultant can intervene most effectively by addressing the total milieu, enriching the perspective of staff and family members who are seeing only one side of the whole.