Cranial Nerve I-Olfactory Nerve

Nurse: Good morning maam Im _______ and Ill be your nurse today. Ill be testing your olfactory nerve
by letting you identify a distinct order but first Ill be checking the patency of your nostrils.
Patient: (nod)
Narrator: The nurse will let the patient smell perfume.
Nurse: Maam, what did you smell?
Patient: I smelled perfume
Cranial Nerve II-Optic Nerve
Nurse: Hello maam! Hows your day? Im here to test your visual activity but first I want you to stand 20
feet away from the Snellens wall chart.
Patient: Im ready! Lets begin maam
Nurse: I want you to cover your right eye and read the chart and do it with the same the left eye.
Narrator: In a dim room the nurse will be testing the patients pupillary reaction to light
Nurse: Maam I want you to look in a distance and Ill be shining a bright light obliquely into each pupil in
turn.
Narrator: While doing it the nurse will be looking for both the direct and consensual reactions.
Nurse: Were done!
Patient: Smile
Cranial Nerve III, IV, VI-Oculomotor, Trochlear and Abducens Nerve
Narrator: The nurse will observe for ptosis and test for extra ocular movements and will stand or sit 3 or
6 feet in front of the patient.
Nurse: Hi maam! Follow my Fingers with your eyes without moving your head.
Narrator: The nurse will gaze in the 6 cardinal directions using a cross or H pattern. To check for
nystagmus the nurse will pause during upward and lateral gaze. Second, checks for convergence by
moving her finger towards the bridge of the patients nose and lastly, test the patients pupillary
reactions to light.


Cranial Nerve V-Trigeminal Nerve
Nurse: Good morning! How was your day maam? Ill be testing your corneal reflex.
Narrator: In this test the nurse will be checking the corneal reflex by asking the patient to look up and
away. Then, from the other side, the nurse will touch the patients cornea lightly with a wisp of cotton
then look for the normal blink reaction to both eyes and will repeat it on the other side.
Cranial Nerve VII-Facial Nerve
Narrator: To do this test, the nurse will inspect the facial asymmetry and involuntary movements by
letting the patient raise both eyebrows, frown, and close both eyes so that the nurse will open to test
for muscular strength, 4
th
by showing both upper and lower teeth, smile and then puff out cheeks.
Cranial Nerve VIII-Acoustic/Vestibulocochlear
Narrator: The nurse will make the patient cover the opposite ear whisper numbers in one ear and then
ask the patient to repeat it and do it at the other ear.
Cranial Nerve IX-Glossopharyngeal and Vagus Nerve
Narrator: The nurse will listen to the patients voice and note if its hoarse or nasal.
Nurse: Maam can you swallow and then say ah
Narrator: The nurse will watch the movement of the soft palate and the pharynx and the last test is test
the gag reflex (unconscious/uncooperative patient) by stimulating the back of the throat on each side.
Cranial Nerve XI-Accessory Nerve
Narrator: From behind, the nurse will look for atrophy or asymmetry of the trapezius muscles
Nurse: Maam can you shrug your shoulders against the resistance and turn head against the resistance
that Im putting.
Narrator: The nurse will watch and palpate the sternocleidomastoid muscle on the opposite side.
Cranial Nerve XII-Hypoglossal Nerve
Narrator: The nurse will listen to the articulation of the clients words and lastly observe the tongue as it
lies in the mouth. Lastly, the nurse will ask the client to protrude tongue and move it from side to side.