Name: Ophthalmic Nurse Description: Provides care to persons with disorders of the eyes including blindness or visual impairment; functions range from patient teaching to assistance in surgery; knowledgeable about the effect of ophthalmic disorders on the body as well as the emotions of patients who often must adapt to blindness or visual impairment; may make pre- and post-operative home visits Diagnoses: Diabetic retinopathy, macular degeneration, glaucoma, ocular manifestations of AIDS, cataracts, trauma, hypertension Practice roles: Staff nurse, clinical nurse specialist, head nurse, supervisor, coordinator, director, executive Characteristics: Patient care and relationships with patients, variety of duties and nonroutine duties, learning opportunities, technology, making a difference, teaching opportunities Client age group: Infants, children, adults Drawbacks: Lack of patient follow up, difficult patient contacts, workload, balancing management needs while providing direct patient care Desirable skills: People skills, flexibility, prior experience in surgical nursing, general nursing knowledge of multisystem problems Education: RN with AD, Diploma, or BSN (preferred) Employers: Hospitals including specialty hospitals, ambulatory surgery units, clinics, HMOs, home-care agencies, physicians’ offices Certification: National Certifying Board for Ophthalmic Registered Nurses PO Box 193030 San Francisco, CA 04109 415-561-8513 Publications: Insight Journal 415-561-8523