Triage Acute Vision Changes in the Older Adult as “High Risk”

When an adult, aged 65 years or older, presents to the emergency department with complaints of “changes in vision,” it is important to quickly to determine type and onset of vision change and events before the vision change. Vision changes after trauma to the face or eye should be triaged and treated similarly to a patient of any age. Patients presenting with a slow onset of vision change s (eg, open-angle-closure glaucoma, cataracts, age-related macular degeneration, and diabetic retinopathy) do not require emergent therapy in the emergency department, but do need a referral to an ophthalmologist.
Source: Journal of Emergency Nursing: JEN - Category: Nursing Authors: Tags: Geriatric Update Source Type: research