Geriatric Nursing Program

We demonstrate our commitment through:

• Educating nurses in geriatric care. Our nurses have received special training about common health problems of older adults.

• Practices to help older patients regain health and be as functional as possible. We provide care to help prevent complications such as:

• Skin breakdown
• Falls/injuries
• Pain
• Acute confusion
• Loss of strength and mobility.

Evaluating the care we provide, we continuously monitor improvements, patient response to care, patient and family satisfaction, and length of hospital stays. Since we established specialized geriatric care at Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center, our geriatric patients have enjoyed significantly better care. We have seen a reduction in:

• Acute-care falls
• Hospital-acquired pressure ulcers
• Use of restraints and potentially high-risk medications
• Average length of stay for high-risk geriatric patients

Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center believes in promoting best practices as the standard for geriatric nursing care.