What it means
What the nerves report to the brain from the skin, muscles, joints and organs. Nurses check sensation in the limbs after injury, surgery, casting or a nerve block, and in clients with diabetes, whose feet may lose feeling (neuropathy). Loss of sensation is numbness; tingling is called paresthesia.
For the nurse
Ask the client to close their eyes and say where and when they are touched, and compare both sides. A client with poor sensation must check the skin daily, test bath water with a thermometer or elbow, and protect the area from injury.
At a glance
| Spanish | sensación |
|---|---|
| Also written | sensations |
Related terms
numbness
Loss or reduction of feeling in a part of the body.
neuron
A nerve cell: a cell that carries electrical and chemical signals through the nervous system.
cranial nerve
One of the 12 pairs of nerves that come straight from the brain and brainstem rather than the spinal cord.
spinal cord injury
Damage to the spinal cord that disrupts signals between the brain and the body below the injury.