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First published in the Australian Nursing Journal Dec09/Jan10
Author: Jodie Davis, Federal Education Officer Australian Nursing Federation

The old saying ‘once you hit 40 it’s all downhill from there’ has definitely become true for me in relation to my eyesight. I found myself moving documents further away so I could read them and enlisting the help of my children to read the small print on food packaging. Still I refused to accept that I might need glasses and continued squinting to read and complaining about the amount of information in small print on food packaging. It wasn’t until my youngest son politely informed me that ‘your face looks wrinkled when you’re reading’ that I decided reading glasses may be a better option than botox.

I have now joined the 52 per cent of Australians living with eyesight problems who need assistance with vision. As in other developed countries, the most prevalent causes of blindness and vision loss in Australia are those related to ageing. Age-related macular degeneration, cataract, glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, uncorrected or under-corrected refractive error, eye trauma and trachoma are the most prevalent causes of blindness and vision loss in Australia.

Reducing preventable vision loss was recently identified as a priority by Australian government and non-government organisations. Vision 2020 Australia, the peak national organisation for eye health and vision care, is currently working in partnerships under the ‘Vision Initiative’ to prevent avoidable blindness and vision loss by raising community awareness about eye health and vision care.

Did you know?

People with vision impairment are:

• twice as likely to fall
• three times as likely to suffer from depression
• at risk of hip fractures by up to eight times more than the rest of the population
• admitted to nursing homes three years earlier than the rest of the population.

As nurses and midwives, we play an integral role in educating patients about eye health, particularly when almost 75 per cent of vision impairment is preventable or treatable. Saving a patient’s sight could be as easy as encouraging them to have regular eye tests to detect problems early and allow for the best treatment.  

Over the last few months I have been working closely with Vision 2020 Australia to develop a tutorial for the Australian Nursing Federation’s Continuing Professional Education (CPE) website addressing the five common eye conditions leading to vision impairment and blindness, their presentations, diagnostic tools and relevant treatment options. Included in the tutorial are a number of resource options you can use to assist in directing patients to the many services available.

I hope you find this recent addition to the CPE library both informative and useful and I encourage you all, particularly those of you over 40, to have your eyes tested regularly.

For more information visit the Australian Nursing Federation (ANF) page.

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