Authors (including presenting author) :
Lo MT(1), Chan LT(1), Chu CY(2), Chong WM(2), Ho HY(2), Liu SY(2), To MT(2), Yuen WHH(2)
Affiliation :
(1)Accident and Emergency Department, Tseung Kwan O Hospital, (2)Accident and Emergency Department, United Christian Hospital
Introduction :
Fall has accounted for fatal incidents and became the second leading cause of death worldwide. In Hong Kong, approximately one-fifth of community-dwelling elders aged 65-year-old or above fell at least once per year, of which 75% suffered from head injury or fracture and required emergency medical attention, causing a tremendous burden on the local healthcare service system. The outcome of elderly with head injury is heavily relied on the neurological assessment to detect early deterioration and to promptly activate corresponding responses.
Objectives :
An education program was designed to enhance emergency nurses' competencies in performing geriatrics head injury assessment in TKOH and UCH in November 2021. It focuses on general knowledge of geriatric head injury, high risk groups identification, knowledge on head injury-related pharmacology and the importance of comprehensive and continuous neurological assessment.
Methodology :
Questionnaires were conducted in TKOH and UCH before and after education program to examine nurses' competencies and knowledge on geriatrics head injury assessment. Pre- and post-education program data collection was also used to evaluate nurses' compliances on adequate triage assessment and ability to perform or initiate ongoing neurological assessment for geriatrics head injury patients.
Result & Outcome :
Emergency nurses' competencies on geriatrics head injury assessment were significantly improved. General knowledge on geriatrics head injury was significantly improved by 81% after the education program. Improvement was also observed on nurses' compliances on adequate triage assessment for geriatrics head injury patients. Significant improvement was observed in performing ongoing neurological observation by 37.8% with p<0.00001 following by the education program.
