An Ophthalmic Nurse cares for people with eye disorders. They also perform pre-operative assessments for patients before eye surgery. Ophthalmic Nurses are essential during operations, assisting the surgical team and functioning as circulating or scrub nurses. They carefully and safely position patients for surgery, verify the surgical site, and help with the instrumentation.
Things You'll Do:
- Assist the surgical team
- Help patients with glaucoma, cataracts and eye trauma
- Work directly under an ophthalmologist
Your job characteristics:
- Structured
- Patient-facing
How You'll Get There
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Get YourNursing Diploma, Associate of Science in Nursing (ASN) or Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN)
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Pass YourNational Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX)
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You can start working as a Registered Nurse.
More about becoming an RN › -
Work as a Registered Nurse for two years, in Ophthamlic Nursing.
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Pass YourOphthamlic Nurse certification exam administered by the National Certifying Board for Ophthalmic Registered Nurses, or another similar organization.
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Become aCertified Registered Nurse in Ophthalmology (CRNO)
More About this Specialty
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Nursing Notes Live
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Panel Discussion on Clinical Nurse Specialists and other Advanced Nurses.
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KathyRead her story
Clinical Nurse Specialist, RN
I went to nursing school directly out of high school. At that time, women's career choices were limited.
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Craigread his story
Nurse Practitioner, RN
I already had a degree in biology, but while I was training to be an EMT I learned about nurse practitioners...
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What Else You
Can Expect- You’ll be recording visual activity and ocular functions, examining the patient’s eye, checking the pupils, applying drops or ointment, as well as other assessment tasks.
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