Improving falls risk screening and prevention using an e-learning approach.

Area of Science:

• Nursing Education
• Patient Safety
• Geriatric Care

Background:

• Falls injuries in older inpatients represent a critical patient safety issue.
• Effective falls risk management is essential for improving care quality.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of an e-learning program for nurses on falls risk screening, prevention, and post-falls management.
• To assess the effectiveness of e-learning in enhancing nurses' ability to mitigate falls among older inpatients.

Main Methods:

• A pre-post study design was employed.
• Data collection included patient observation, environmental assessment, and patient healthcare record audits.
• The Falls Chart Audit Tool and Modified Ontario Stratify Scale were utilized.

Main Results:

• The study observed 119 patients pre-program and 99 patients post-program.
• Initial risk screening was performed for 95% of patients using the Modified Ontario Stratify Scale.
• Significant improvements were noted in interventions such as falls risk flagging, enhanced supervision, hazard reduction, alarm utilization, and allied health referrals.

Conclusions:

• The e-learning program demonstrated success in improving initial patient falls risk screening.
• Preventive interventions for falls were significantly enhanced post-program implementation.
• The e-learning program is a cost-effective strategy for large organizations to improve falls mitigation.
• The Falls Chart Audit Tool is valuable for monitoring falls prevention efforts.