A nurse is completing a vision exam with the Snellen eye chart and records the client’s vision as 20/30 or 6/9. The client asks the nurse, "What does that mean?" How should the nurse respond?

The nurse should explain that a Snellen eye chart is used to measure visual acuity, which is the clarity or sharpness of vision. When the nurse records the client's vision as 20/30 or 6/9, this means that what the average person can see clearly at 30 feet (or 9 meters), the client must be at 20 feet (or 6 meters) to see with the same level of clarity. In other words, the client's vision is slightly below the average visual acuity where 20/20 (or 6/6) is considered normal. So if your visual acuity is 20/30, you can see at 20 feet what a person with normal vision can see at 30 feet. It indicates that the client may have some difficulty with seeing things far away as sharply as an average person would.

Extra: The Snellen eye chart is a common tool used around the world to test visual acuity. The chart displays several rows of letters in different sizes, with the largest letters at the top and the smallest letters at the bottom. The term "20/20 vision" is commonly known as perfect vision, although it's really a measure of average visual acuity and not necessarily "perfect" in a true sense.

Visual acuity is measured in relation to a fixed standard; in the US, it's measured in feet and referred to with numbers like 20/20. In many other countries, it's measured in meters, thus 6/6 is the same as 20/20. This method of measurement is based on what size of letters a person can discern from a designated distance.

It's important to note that the Snellen chart only measures visual acuity, which means there are many other aspects of vision like peripheral awareness (side vision), eye coordination, depth perception, focusing ability and color vision that the Snellen chart doesn't address. If a person has 20/30 vision, it's not necessarily a cause for concern, but depending on an individual's needs or changes in vision, it might prompt further eye health evaluation or the need for corrective lenses, like glasses or contact lenses.