Date of Conferral

10-21-2026

Date of Award

October 2026

Degree

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)

School

Nursing

Advisor

Jill Walsh

Abstract

I designed this Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) staff education project to strengthen emergency department (ED) nurses’ ability to identify delirium in older patients. The ED is a high-risk environment for delirium, particularly among older adults and those with complex medical conditions. However, nurses often lack structured education on delirium prevention and management. I aimed to close that gap by providing targeted evidence-based education to improve prevention, early recognition, and intervention, ultimately enhancing care quality and patient outcomes. The guiding practice-focused question for this project was: In a community hospital emergency department, what is the impact of a targeted educational program—focused on nurse-led delirium prevention interventions and the implementation of a delirium screening toolkit—on nurses’ knowledge on the prevention and management of delirium? I developed an evidence-based nursing education program using the ADDIE framework (see Appendix A) to enhance emergency department nurses’ knowledge of delirium in older adults. The educational program was delivered through a self-paced, pre-recorded virtual module using PowerPoint presentation slides (see Appendix C) and handouts accessible via email using QR code. The program focused on accurate identification, appropriate use of screening tools, recognition of risk factors, and implementation of interventions to reduce delirium. I used a pretest-posttest design to evaluate the effectiveness of an educational program aimed at improving emergency department nurses’ knowledge of delirium identification and prevention in older adults. Given the extremely small sample size (n = 2), statistical 5 analysis was not feasible, and the results cannot be generalized to the broader nursing population. Limitations included poor staff participation in the data collection process. Of the 17 nurses who participated in the staff education intervention, only two completed both the pretest and posttest evaluations. Another limitation that impacted the project’s success was that the facility was on “high acuity and high capacity” status during the implementation phase, which impacted staff participation in the education program. This project extends beyond its immediate setting, addressing challenges that are increasingly common in EDs.

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