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Introducing the Royal College of Nursing Ophthalmic Nursing Forum

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) represents nurses and nursing. While the terms ‘nurses’ and ‘nursing’ are used generically, membership is inclusive of a variety of clinical roles, including midwives, advanced nurse practitioners, advanced clinical practitioners, nurse consultants, registered nursing...

Advanced level practice for ophthalmic nursing

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) Ophthalmic Nursing Forum (ONF) is committed to clinical excellence through advancing ophthalmic nursing practice and supporting career development. With the increasing demand for ophthalmic services, advanced and specialist practice roles are vital to increase...

Across the globe and into the world of international eye grading

Decades have passed and the influence of analysing fundus images by grading consultants and retinal image specialists has grown worldwide. Their job is to specialise in assessing hundreds of diagnosed eye disease disorders and to read thousands of eye images,...

Primary eye health care in low- and middle-income countries

The need for eyecare services in low- and middle-income countries Recent global estimates (2020) suggest that there is more than a three-fold difference in the prevalence of all categories of visual loss (presenting visual acuity <6/12 in the better eye)...

Regulatory drug evaluations and expedited review initiatives: EU and US perspectives

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) and United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) each conduct independent assessments of benefit-risk profile when evaluating applications to market new or modified medicines, and their respective decision-making is guided by distinct legislation, procedures and...

Retinal prosthetics: science fiction or a vision for the future?

“Is it a fact – or have I dreamt it – that, by means of electricity, the world of matter has become a great nerve, vibrating thousands of miles in a breathless point of time?” – Nathaniel Hawthorne, The House...

100 years of insulin

*Joint first authors The centenary of the discovery of insulin is a time to celebrate one of the most significant scientific discoveries of the 20th century. Background Before 1923, Type 1 diabetes mellitus [T1DM] resulted in death from severe ketoacidosis...

Artificial intelligence in eyecare: how do we ensure new technologies truly benefit our patients?

From monitoring patients with heart disease to improving the early diagnosis of cancer, artificial intelligence (AI) using deep learning techniques is already employed in many different healthcare specialties [1]. In the eyecare field, AI technologies have been used to analyse...

Investigating the link between corneal clarity and statin use

Transparency is a vital attribute of the cornea, necessary in preserving healthy vision. Maintaining this requires the collective input of the various layers of the cornea. Mostly, the layers implicated in this are the corneal stroma and endothelium [1]. Our...

COVID-19 and the eye: a review of ocular involvement and protective strategies

A lot of attention has been placed on the use of face coverings to limit COVID-19 transmission, but there has been less focus on ocular involvement and ocular protection strategies. The author reviews the literature and discusses possible solutions. The...