Autonomous emergency ophthalmic nursing: a pilot educational module

Enhanced and extended roles proliferate in nursing today. This is, in part, due to changes in doctors' working hours and nursing becoming increasingly specialized. Ophthalmology has always had enhanced roles for nurses and the boundaries continue to evolve and widen. Accredited education in emergency ophthalmic nursing practice is essential to enhance safe practice, peer recognition and professional development in keeping with the Nursing and Midwifery Council's Code of Professional Conduct. Finding no appropriate educational and practice programme available, locally or nationally, the authors decided to devise their own module in conjunction with their ophthalmic department, their hospital's continuing professional practice development department, and Queen Margaret University. This article describes the authors' experience and the progression from inception, planning and organization to completion, and, finally, piloting the module themselves.