Stopping Elderly Accidents, Deaths and Injuries

Running head: NURSING ASSIGNMENT
NURSING ASSIGNMENT
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

1NURSING ASSIGNMENT
Title: Stopping Elderly Accidents, Deaths and Injuries
Goal:
According to a report published by El-Khoury et al. (2013), senior adults form an
average 15% of the total Australian population. It should be noted in this context that falls
form a major health issue among the elderly. Also, falls account for 7% of the total
hospitalization rate (Ungar et al. 2013). In addition to this, fall related accidents lead to a
cumulative medical expenditure of approximately $ 139-209 million (Pfortmueller et al.
2014). Research reports suggest that the cumulative medical expenditure is expected to rise
up to $ 321- 482 million by the end of the year 2051 (Ungar et al. 2013). It should be noted in
this context that fall prevention programs could progressively help in reducing the incidences
of fall among the elderly. Therefore, this education activity intends to disseminate a clear
understanding among the nursing professionals about effective fall prevention strategies so as
to reduce the episodes of fall among the elderly within a care setting. The central theme of the
paper is to integrate knowledge among care professionals to clearly identify the risk factors
that could lead to fall among the elderly. The target audience for the education program
would comprise of Graduate nurses who have freshly entered into the Gerontology unit. As
per Stevens and Phelan (2013), it has been mentioned that Graduate nurses working in
collaboration with experienced registered nursing professionals display better care delivery.
As stated by Hempel et al. (2013), Graduate nurses are inexperienced in terms of professional
technicalities and on working in close association with experienced professionals can exhibit
enhanced performance output. According to Aranda-Gallardo et al. (2013), a combination of
role modelling, practical training as well as reflective practice can help in enhancing the
practicum experience of the professionals and help in enhancing holistic outcome.
Background and Justification:

2NURSING ASSIGNMENT
In order to improve the holistic patient outcome, it is extremely important to ensure
that care professionals are equipped with the professional skills to identify the risk factors
that could lead to fall related accidents. It should be noted in this context that nursing
professionals within a healthcare setting must be able to access the risk factors so as to ensure
prevention from falls among the elderly (Ambrose et al. 2013). Nurses must be able to
critically access the healthcare environment and accordingly adapt measures to foster a safe
care environment. According to (), the use of the STEADI risk assessment tool helps in
identifying a high risk environment that could lead to fall related accidents (Cdc.gov, 2019).
It should be noted here that the development of the STEADI risk assessment tool is
comparatively new and earlier the Hendrick II Fall Risk Model and STRATIFY scale was
widely used within the clinical environment (Cdc.gov, 2019). However, according to Kwan
and Straus (2014), the STEADI tool offers a complete fall assessment package and uses an
algorithm adapted by the American and British Geriatric Societies. As mentioned by
Ambrose et al. (2013), the use of the STEADI tool has been proven to yield positive patient
outcome and reduce the episodes of fall among the elderly patients. However, it should be
noted here that care professionals must be able to make effective use of the tool in order to
prevent the incidences of fall and foster a secured environment for the old age patients.
Detail of the activity:
As has already been discussed in the previous sections of the essay, the target
population for the education program would comprise of the set of Graduate nursing
professionals working within the Geriatric Unit of the hospital. The learning objective would
be delivered to the participants by means of a power point presentation. The nurses would be
contacted via e-mail and a training workshop would be imparted. The training workshop
would clearly present details about the STEADI Risk Assessment Tool. The workshop would
clearly define the precautionary measures that would help in securing the clinical