Right-brain strokes cause left-side weakness and impulsivity, which means patients need closer safety monitoring. Left-brain strokes cause right-side weakness and caution. Hemiparesis, the one-sided weakness that follows a stroke, depends on which side of the brain was damaged.
When you hear about a stroke, hemiparesis, which is a big fancy word for one sided weakness, it usually accompanies it. And because the brain and the body are flipped, if the stroke happens on the right side of the body, the patient would have weakness on the left side of their body and vice versa. A key point that you'll often be tested on in nursing school is that a stroke on the right side of the brain causes impaired judgment and impulsiveness, whereas a stroke on the left side of the brain causes the patient to be more cautious. So you'll need to make sure that your patient is safe, especially if they've had a stroke on the right side of their brain, because they may be more impulsive, which can then be a major safety problem.
