Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs is a psychological theory that a human being has five categories of needs that actuate his or her behavioral nature. The needs include belongingness, self-actualization, self-esteem, love, safety and physiological needs (Poston, 2009). Visual impairment or blindness poses significant challenges when a person tries to meet these needs. Blindness lowers a person’s self-esteem or the way the person comprehends him/herself. This results in the person withdrawing from and avoiding contact and socialization with other people.
Vision plays a critical role when someone is forming friendships and intimate relationships with other people. It helps in the development of trust and other concepts that make a person feel loved and appreciated. When a person becomes visually afflicted, he or she may experience difficulty establishing relationships and may feel unloved and unappreciated (Doenges et al. 2016). When in the presence of other people who do not have eye problems, visually afflicted people may feel out of place.
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A person’s self-actualization needs include the desires to pursue what he or she wants regarding academics and work, the need to actualize his or her full potential and the need to grow and have different and exciting experiences in life. Visual impairment affects all these needs as it restricts the number and scope of activities that the victim undertakes.
To help a visually impaired people feel loved, the Registered Nurse should establish contact with the patients by touching and greeting them in a warm embrace. A warm touch facilitates the development of trust between the caregiver and the patient (Doenges et al. 2016). Helping the patient to acclimatize with the hospital surroundings raises the self-esteem of the patient. The Registered Nurse can do so by guiding the patients as they touch and feel their way to the areas they require to visit such as the bathroom. Helping the patient maintain their social lives by providing visual –aid tools also helps to heighten their self-esteem.
The Registered Nurse should help the visually impaired patient perceive the problems caused by the condition as challenges that need to be solved. This motivates the patient to keep pursuing his or herself – actualization needs (Hinkle & Cheever, 2014). For instance, a patient who enjoys reading can be provided with books or audio recordings. Educating the patients on the available opportunities for visually impaired people helps them to continue pursuing their life goals.
References
Doenges, M. E., Moorhouse, M. F., & Murr, A. C. (2016). Nurse's pocket guide: Diagnoses, prioritized interventions, and rationales. FA Davis.
Hinkle, J., & Cheever, K. (2014). Brunner and Suddarth's textbook of medical-surgical nursing (13th Ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Wolters Kluwer Health.
Poston, B. (2009). Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Surgical technologist , 41(8), 347-353.
