Northern Sydney Home Nursing Service Prepared by Joanne MacMillan - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Enrolled Nurses Take on Falls Program Northern Sydney Home Nursing Service Prepared by Joanne MacMillan CNC Aged Care / Dementia] NSHNS May 2012

How did we motivate our EN’s to take on the falls program?  NSHNS has been using a falls program since 2007  Our service has both RN’s and EN’s  We are a busy nursing service, most of our patients are complex  RN’s have case loads and found it difficult to manage both case loads and Falls programs

Strategies  To develop a ‘Falls Risk Assessment Tool’  Development of a falls prevention education pack for patients( Folder with information)  Rollout of a video and booklet on Falls Program (Black & White Booklet) 2  Falls Program staff education

Implementation Included:  Undertaking a falls risk assessment screen on all patients over 65  A falls prevention home program was implemented by nurses initially to be conducted over 4 week period  A falls prevention information pack for patients and carers was provided by nurses as part of the education pack  Three (3) Month trial in all 6 centres of the Home Exercise Program which was facilitated by nurses using the NSCCH Health Promotion resources 2

Following Trial  Staff focus groups reported the tools were relevant and easy to use  88% of patients found program useful  56% experienced an increase in function & mobility  64% were still doing some form of exercise on a daily basis & found ongoing support would be beneficial for continuity  85% patients had Falls Risk Assessment Tool completed

Recommendations  Falls champions for each centre  Amendments made to Falls Risk Assessment Tool  Embedded the ongoing supervision of this program within the Aged Care / Dementia CNC role  Falls Working Party continues to meet quarterly  Utilisation of Enrolled Nurses as the main facilitators of the program at each NSHNS site – RN’s reported increase in workload made it difficult to complete the program as part of their care – ENs expressed interest in facilitating program as this provided them with an increase in responsibility in their role.

Enrolled Nurses  Enrolled nurses take on the falls program with great enthusiasm  They enjoy being a resource person to other staff members  They also feel that they are taking on their own case load and have some responsibility  The EN is well supported by the NUM and Aged care/ Dementia CNC

REFERENCES 1. NSW Health 2008 Falls Prevention…… M Armstrong. NS&CC Coordinator 2. NSW Falls Policy | NS and CC LHDs