Glaucoma and glaucoma medications.

Glaucoma is an insidious "thief of vision" that affects millions of Americans and is a leading cause of blindness worldwide. The signs of the most common form of glaucoma are incremental and are often not noticed until the vision loss is acute. Nurses, in any practice arena, who are aware and knowledgeable about glaucoma can play a vital role in identifying those at risk for glaucoma before irreversible damage is done. In addition, knowledgeable nurses will be able to educate those diagnosed with glaucoma about their disease and the proper use of their glaucoma medications. In the following discussion, a brief explanation of how glaucoma affects vision is presented and selected medications used to treat glaucoma are identified.