Nursing Assessment
- Patient’s ability to understand and comply with treatment
- Patient’s psychologic reaction to sight-threatening disorder
- Family reaction and support
- Caregiver availability
Nursing diagnoses
- Risk for injury related to visual acuity deficits
- Self-care deficits related to visual acuity deficits
- Acute pain related to pathophysiologic process and surgical correction
- Noncompliance related to the inconvenience and side effects of glaucoma medications
Planning
- Expected Goals
- No progression of visual impairment
- Understanding of disease process and rationale for therapy
- Compliance with all aspects of therapy
- No postoperative complications
Nursing implementation
- Health Promotion
- Teach patient and family risks of glaucoma, and that it increases with age
- Emphasize importance of early detection and treatment
- Provide ophthalmologic examinations
- Acute Care
- Administer medication to lower IOP
- For surgical patients
- Provide postop instructions
- Relieve discomfort
- Ambulatory Care
- Remind patient to follow therapy
- Teach about
- Disease process
- Treatment options and their rationale
- Information about purpose, frequency, and technique for administration of anti-glaucoma drugs
Evaluation
- Expected Outcomes
- No further loss of vision
- Compliance with recommended therapy
- Safe functioning in the environment
- Pain relief from disease and surgery
Gerontologic considerations
- Tend to special needs of older adult
- Caution about potential drug interactions that occur with systemic illnesses and their treatments
- Teach that occluding puncta will limit systemic absorption of glaucoma medications
