Geriatric Special Topics: Preventing Functional Decline in the Acute Care Setting - 3HR

Course overview

Target Audience: Functional decline is a common complication in hospitalized older adults, even in those with good baseline function. As a nurse caring for these patients it is important to understand how the loss of physical function is associated with poor long-term outcomes. Course Overview: This course offers nurses information to help them address the trajectory of change in physical function during the acute care stay, the factors associated with functional decline, and function-promoting interventions that can potentially modify these factors. Finally, a clinical practice protocol to guide a unit-level approach to function-focused care is provided. Educational Objectives On completion of this course, the reader should be able to: • Discuss the functional trajectory of the hospitalized older adult. • Identify risk factors for functional decline in the older adult. • Describe the influence of the care environment on the physical function of the older adult. • Discuss interventions to optimize physical function of hospitalized older adults.