Assessing emergency nurses' geriatric knowledge and perceptions of their geriatric care

Area of Science:

• Geriatric Emergency Care
• Nursing Education
• Healthcare Needs Assessment

Background:

• Older adults (65+) face increased functional dependence and mortality post-emergency department discharge.
• Specialized geriatric nursing training improves outcomes for elderly patients.
• A deficit exists in registered nurses with specialized geriatric training.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the knowledge and self-perceived competence of emergency department registered nurses in geriatric emergency care.
• To identify gaps in geriatric care knowledge among emergency nurses.
• To inform the development of targeted geriatric nursing education.

Main Methods:

• A quantitative, descriptive study was conducted at a large teaching hospital.
• A survey tool with 15 knowledge-based questions and 16 Likert-scale self-assessment questions was administered.
• Thirty-two emergency nurses participated in the 2-week study.

Main Results:

• Knowledge scores ranged from 4 to 12, with a mean of 8.53 (SD ± 1.866).
• Over 80% of nurses rated themselves as "very good" or "good" in 13 of 16 self-assessment categories.
• No participants reported "very poor" self-ratings in any category.

Conclusions:

• Nurses demonstrated high self-ratings in geriatric care competence.
• Actual knowledge scores in geriatric emergency care were consistently low.
• A significant discrepancy exists between nurses' perceived and actual abilities in geriatric care, highlighting an educational need.