Nurse or doctor: biometry for intraocular lens power calculation, who should measure?

Biometry for intraocular lens power calculation is critical to the refractive success of cataract surgery with intraocular lens implantation. The majority of ophthalmology departments in Scotland currently entrust this procedure to junior medical staff. In an attempt to streamline preoperative assessment of cataract patients we have changed our practice so that nurses now carry out biometry. This prospective study, in which the results of 336 eyes undergoing cataract surgery and intraocular lens implantation were examined, shows that appropriately trained nursing staff in our department are able to perform the measurements for biometry at least as accurately as junior medical staff.