Nursing Education Plan: STEADI for Fall Prevention in Geriatric Unit

This assignment presents a nursing education plan designed to train graduate nurses in the geriatric unit on fall prevention strategies. The plan emphasizes the use of the STEADI (Stopping Elderly Accidents, Deaths & Injuries) risk assessment tool to identify and mitigate fall risks among elderly patients. The education program includes a PowerPoint presentation, practical examples, case studies, and information on community programs and referral schemes. The goal is to equip nurses with the skills to assess patient risk factors, adapt the clinical environment, and communicate effectively with patients, ultimately reducing the incidence of falls. The assignment references key literature on fall prevention, risk factors, and the effectiveness of educational interventions, aiming to improve patient safety and outcomes in geriatric care. This plan highlights the importance of nurses' role in recognizing and addressing fall risks to enhance the quality of care for the elderly population.

NURSING
EDUCATION PLAN
-SUBMITTED BY:

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. It should be
noted in this context that fall
prevention programs could
progressively help in reducing the
incidences of fall among the elderly.

Background and Justification:
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
Kwan and Straus (2014), 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)

Details of the activity:
Graduate Nurses working in the Geriatric Unit would be imparted training in relation to risk
assessment using the STEADI Risk Assessment Tool.
The learning objective would be delivered to the participants by means of a power point presentation.
The workshop would clearly define the precautionary measures that would help in securing the clinical
environment. In addition to this, it would also assist professionals to comfortably communicate with the
patients about fall and related injuries.
Further, it would also help nurses in correctly using the fall risk checklist and the patient referral form
(Hempel et al. 2013)
Also, the learning material would comprise of practical examples and case-studies which would help in
developing a better concept about the learning objective.
Further, nurses would also be informed about the community programs available and according taught
about the referral scheme.

Conclusion:
the proposed education program would comprise of imparting education to the Graduate nurses
about the use of the STEADI tool. it can be expected that imparting education in relation to risk
assessment of the elderly would help in securing a safe clinical environment which would help in
reducing the episodes of fall among the old age patients.

References:
Ambrose, A.F., Paul, G. and Hausdorff, J.M., (2013). Risk factors for falls among older adults: a review of
the literature. Maturitas, 75(1), pp.51-61. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.maturitas.2013.02.009
Cdc.gov (2019). Materials for Healthcare Providers | STEADI - Older Adult Fall Prevention | CDC Injury
Center. [online] Cdc.gov. Available at: https://www.cdc.gov/steadi/materials.html [Accessed 24
Apr. 2019].
El-Khoury, F., Cassou, B., Charles, M. A., & Dargent-Molina, P. (2013). The effect of fall prevention
exercise programmes on fall induced injuries in community dwelling older adults: systematic
review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. BMj, 347, f6234. DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.f6234
Hempel, S., Newberry, S., Wang, Z., Booth, M., Shanman, R., Johnsen, B., ... & Ganz, D. A. (2013).
Hospital fall prevention: a systematic review of implementation, components, adherence, and
effectiveness. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 61(4), 483-494. DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1111/jgs.12169