Date of Conferral
2021
Degree
Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)
School
Nursing
Advisor
Joan Hahn
Abstract
Falls among hospitalized, geriatric patients are a leading cause of injury. Geriatric patients with psychiatric illnesses are at an even greater risk of falls. The project site was experiencing an increase in the number of patient falls and identified a need for staff education on fall risk assessment and implementation of interventions specific to the hospitalized, geriatric, psychiatric patient. Thus, the practice-focused question for this project was whether an educational program on evidence-based assessment and fall prevention strategies would improve nurses’ knowledge and skills to assess risk for falls and implement appropriate interventions for inpatient, geriatric, psychiatric patients. Knowles’s adult learning theory and the analysis, design, development, implementation, evaluation model were used as the theoretical foundation for this project. Fourteen psychiatric registered nurses participated in an educational program on identifying fall risk factors and implementing interventions specific to the geriatric psychiatric population. A pre- and posttest design was used to determine whether the educational session was effective. Results of a paired-samples t test showed a statistically significant improvement (p < .001) in staff knowledge in fall risk assessment and intervention for geriatric, psychiatric patients. This project has the potential to impact nursing practice by improving nurses’ knowledge of fall risk assessment and fall prevention for hospitalized, geriatric, psychiatric patients. Positive social change will occur through improved staff competency in fall mitigation, which may potentially lead to decreased patient falls.
Recommended Citation
Hampton, Shannon C., "Staff Education on Fall Prevention for Inpatient, Geriatric, Psychiatric Patients" (2021). Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies. 11293.
https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/11293
