An Educational Intervention to Reduce Falls Associated with Benzodiazepine Use in Older Adults: A Quality Improvement Project.

Abstract Benzodiazepines are prescribed for the treatment of anxiety, insomnia, and other disorders and are prescribed often in elderly patients. However, they are associated with side effects such as drowsiness, dizziness, impaired coordination, cognitive impairment, and risk of falls. Despite recommendations for their limited use, benzodiazepine prescriptions are still common, which has led to falls in this vulnerable population. This quality improvement project is based on the lack of knowledge of the staff regarding the risks associated with benzodiazepines and the high fall rate among elderly residents living at a long-term care facility (LTCF) located in West Palm Beach, Florida. The project involves an educational intervention in the form of a PowerPoint presentation with a focus on the effects of benzodiazepine use in the elderly. Some of the staff members, including certified nursing assistants (CNAs), were trained on how to do fall risk assessment, recognize the side effects of benzodiazepine, and prevent falls. Knowledge level gains by the staff were assessed by pre-and post-tests. The project followed the number of falls observed for two months of implementation and provided an educational intervention. The conclusion drawn from the study was that staff awareness was enhanced, and it was possible to observe a shift in the number of fall rates concomitant with benzodiazepine use. Giving certified nursing assistants (CNAs) the knowledge to systematically identify and manage the risks associated with benzodiazepine use is also directly related to patient safety and quality of care. Implications of the findings point to the possibility of using educational interventions for Staff in other long-term care facilities (LTCFs) to help prevent benzodiazepine-related falls. This project shows that staff education has to be a continuous process while it has to be understood that initiatives for improving safe medication practices have to be implemented on a facility-wide level to promote the well-being of older adults.