Final answer:
PERRLA stands for Pupils Equal, Round, and Reactive to Light and Accommodation, indicating normal pupil function assessed during an eye examination, which includes tests for convergence and the accommodation-convergence reflex.
Step-by-step explanation:
The acronym PERRLA used by a nurse to document a visual assessment stands for Pupils Equal, Round, and Reactive to Light and Accommodation. This term refers to several important qualities of healthy pupil function: the pupils are the same size as each other (equal), they are correctly shaped (round), and they react appropriately to changes in lighting and focus on objects at varying distances (reactive to light and accommodation).
During an eye examination, convergence is tested as the patient's eyes both adduct to look at a closer object, while a simultaneous change in the lens shape, via the accommodation-convergence reflex, helps keep the object in focus. The accommodation ability can decline with age, leading to the need for corrective lenses. Vision testing may involve measuring visual acuity with a Snellen chart and evaluating the pupillary light reflex, where pupils constrict in bright light as a result of sensory input through the optic nerve and a motor response through the oculomotor nerve.