Development and Implementation of Educational Tools in the context of Falls in the Geriatric population
Summary
My aim for the project was to gain a new perspective that extends beyond the clinical practice of bedside care. My overarching goal was to gain knowledge in fall prevention and injury reduction. I intended to also increase my knowledge in education translation and implementation on falls.
Many different types of falls education have been developed and implemented over the last 8 years at Baycrest. I hoped to create a tool that would educate clinical staff on falls prevention.
There is currently a nursing orientation in-person falls education module and an e-learning module for clinical staff on falls prevention. The current education available for clinical staff is repetitive, it needs to incorporate the learnings and innovations from our guideline work and also needs resources and time so it is an effective e-learning module. We currently have support from senior leadership to work with our education department and our e-learning resource persons to develop a new falls e-learning module in 2021. This is on the workplan of the BPSO® falls working group. The fellowship is tied directly to this work and the fellow will work alongside the BPSO® falls working group in the development of this e-learning module.
My learning goal was to increase knowledge and understanding in the development and implementation of educational tools in the context of falls in the geriatric population. My learning objectives included: increasing my knowledge on best practice implementation, increasing my knowledge on Falls best practice in the older adult setting and increasing my knowledge on the development and implementation of falls education. Through this fellowship, I gained understanding on how to utilize materials from RNAO and the BPG workshop and website. I had the opportunity to consult with experts in the field of BGP implementation, specializing in falls best practice in older adults. I also created an e-learning module with the support from the falls working group, my mentors, and the e-learning manager and e-learning designer.
Outcomes
The outcomes gathered from the fellowship primarily affect Baycrest’s geriatric population. There is no doubt that the fundamental factor of education is related to fall prevention. The information gained will affect Baycrest’s community, visitors, none-health care workers and health care clinicians.
Baycrest’s current educational interventions include falls prevention programs to the community (government funded outreach programs), general information through the Baycrest website, and through a learning management system (LMS) course. The fellowship contributed to all these interventions and will therefore contribute to a vast array of population groups.
The outcomes experienced among colleagues/staff included, increase knowledge and skills related to falls prevention, being a resource to clinical staff with relation to falls prevention, and increase capacity in prevention of falls. The organizational outcomes included, applying the RNAO’s tool kit for Prevention of falls BPG into clinical programs and gained experience on how to implement educational tools in the prevention of falls in the geriatric population.
Overall experience
As a whole, I enjoyed being an Advanced clinical practice fellow. I achieved my goal of increasing my knowledge in RNAO’s best practice guidelines. Through this fellowship, I gain an appreciation for the RNAO’s tool kit for BPG implementation. My primary and secondary mentor also provided me with great support during my learning. The ACPF allowed me to set a vision for short- and long-term goals related to practice implementation. My favourite moments during the fellowship were meeting new people. I was able to meet different patients, nurses and educators as the project progressed. I am thankful that I had this opportunity, and I highly recommend the ACPF to all nurses!
