Introduction: Swiss demographics indicate an increase in the proportion of people aged 65 and over by 2020. The health system is expected to be impacted, with an increase in the use of the emergency services. Elderly patients often display atypical symptoms, and this can make it more difficult to prioritize their clinical problems. Purpose: to measure emergency nurses’ (working in a Swiss cantonal hospital) knowledge and perception of practical skills with regard to geriatric care. Methods: a descriptive and correlational study was carried out using an electronic questionnaire translated into Swiss French and Swiss German according to recommendations. Results: the overall score in the knowledge test was considered low (51.9%; SD ± 12.5). The perception of practical skills is estimated at an average of 1.54 on a 3-point scale, which can be interpreted as a medium to low level. The correlations show weak associations between these small-scale scores and with the sociodemographic and professional characteristics chosen. Conclusion: the nurses who completed the questionnaire display little geriatric nursing knowledge and consider their level of skills to be mid-range or low. This is definitely a challenge for training, coaching, and research for advanced practice nurses in geriatric nursing.