Functions
Graduates in Orthoptics and Ophthalmic Care are responsible for the organisation, planning and quality of the professional acts carried out within the scope of their duties; they carry out their professional activities in public or private health care facilities, on a salaried or freelance basis.
On 16 May 2013, the Italian Association of Orthoptists and Ophthalmic Assistants (AIOrAO) published the first edition of the Core Competence of the Assistant Orthoptist in Ophthalmology in which the competence standards for professional practice are set out. In this document, it is clearly emphasised that the professionalism of a healthcare worker is defined by three fundamental characteristics: the possession of up-to-date theoretical knowledge (knowing) the possession of technical or manual skills (doing) the possession of communication and interpersonal skills (being).
The core certified competences are the following:
technical skills and theoretical knowledge
professional behaviour
observation skills
interpersonal skills
integration/collaboration skills
technical/organisational and planning skills