Option C Motor Responses
Assessment of motor response is designed to
determine the patient's ability to obey a command and to localise,
and to withdraw or assume abnormal body positions, in
responseto a painful stimulus .
Therefore a nurse should perform motor response first so that
patient can be easily cured
Procedure for motor response
- Ascertain the patient’s acuity of hearing.
- Ideally, use an interpreter if the patient does not speak
English.
- Check the patient’s notes for any medical condition that may
affect the accuracy of the GCS, for example previous stroke,
affecting the movement of the patient’s arms
- Check the neurological observation chart for the GCS scale
- Check if the patient opens their eyes without the need to speak
or to touch them; if the patient does, then the score is 4E.
- If the patient does not open their eyes, talk to them . Start
off with a normal volume and speak louder if necessary. If they now
open their eyes, the score is 3E.
- If the patient does not open their eyes to speech, administer a
painful stimuli, for example trapezium squeeze (using the thumb and
two fingers grasp the trapezius muscle where the neck meets the
shoulder and twist ) Or apply suborbital pressure (locate the notch
on the suborbital margin and apply pressure to it) . An alternative
is the sternal Rub
- If the patient opens their eyes to a painful stimulus record
the score as 2E If the patient does not respond, then the score is
1E.