Piloting staff education in Australia to reduce falls in older hospital patients experiencing delirium
This study piloted a hospital-based delirium and falls education program to investigate the impacts on staff knowledge and practice plus patient falls. On a medical ward, staff knowledge was compared before and after education sessions. Other data – collected a day before and after program implement...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Journal Article |
| Published: |
Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Asia
2016
|
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/50344 |
| _version_ | 1848758452467269632 |
|---|---|
| author | Toye, Christine Kitchen, S. Hill, A. Edwards, D. Sin, M. Maher, Sean |
| author_facet | Toye, Christine Kitchen, S. Hill, A. Edwards, D. Sin, M. Maher, Sean |
| author_sort | Toye, Christine |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | This study piloted a hospital-based delirium and falls education program to investigate the impacts on staff knowledge and practice plus patient falls. On a medical ward, staff knowledge was compared before and after education sessions. Other data – collected a day before and after program implementation – addressed documentation of patients' delirium and evidence of compliance with falls risk minimization protocols. These data, and numbers of patient falls, were compared before and after program implementation. Almost all ward staff members participated in education sessions (7 doctors, 7 allied health practitioners, and 45 nurses) and knowledge was significantly improved in the 22 who completed surveys both before and after session attendance. Patients assessed as having delirium (5 before implementation, 4 afterwards) were all documented as either confused or delirious. Small changes eventuated in adherence with falls risk management protocols for confused patients and the number of falls decreased. The program merits a stronger emphasis on staff activities relating to the detection, documentation, and management of delirium to inter-professional roles and communication. Evidence of practice enhancement from program implementation should precede rigorous testing of impacts upon falls. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T09:44:13Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-50344 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T09:44:13Z |
| publishDate | 2016 |
| publisher | Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Asia |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-503442017-09-13T16:00:09Z Piloting staff education in Australia to reduce falls in older hospital patients experiencing delirium Toye, Christine Kitchen, S. Hill, A. Edwards, D. Sin, M. Maher, Sean This study piloted a hospital-based delirium and falls education program to investigate the impacts on staff knowledge and practice plus patient falls. On a medical ward, staff knowledge was compared before and after education sessions. Other data – collected a day before and after program implementation – addressed documentation of patients' delirium and evidence of compliance with falls risk minimization protocols. These data, and numbers of patient falls, were compared before and after program implementation. Almost all ward staff members participated in education sessions (7 doctors, 7 allied health practitioners, and 45 nurses) and knowledge was significantly improved in the 22 who completed surveys both before and after session attendance. Patients assessed as having delirium (5 before implementation, 4 afterwards) were all documented as either confused or delirious. Small changes eventuated in adherence with falls risk management protocols for confused patients and the number of falls decreased. The program merits a stronger emphasis on staff activities relating to the detection, documentation, and management of delirium to inter-professional roles and communication. Evidence of practice enhancement from program implementation should precede rigorous testing of impacts upon falls. 2016 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/50344 10.1111/nhs.12300 Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Asia fulltext |
| spellingShingle | Toye, Christine Kitchen, S. Hill, A. Edwards, D. Sin, M. Maher, Sean Piloting staff education in Australia to reduce falls in older hospital patients experiencing delirium |
| title | Piloting staff education in Australia to reduce falls in older hospital patients experiencing delirium |
| title_full | Piloting staff education in Australia to reduce falls in older hospital patients experiencing delirium |
| title_fullStr | Piloting staff education in Australia to reduce falls in older hospital patients experiencing delirium |
| title_full_unstemmed | Piloting staff education in Australia to reduce falls in older hospital patients experiencing delirium |
| title_short | Piloting staff education in Australia to reduce falls in older hospital patients experiencing delirium |
| title_sort | piloting staff education in australia to reduce falls in older hospital patients experiencing delirium |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/50344 |