Psychiatric and Geriatric Nurses Together at the Table: Evaluation of a Combined Conference

Abstract

Older adults who exhibit behavioral symptoms, particularly aggression, are increasingly being admitted from long-term care settings to psychiatric units for evaluation and treatment. Posthospitalization “success” is often limited, suggesting that improved understanding and communication between nurses who work in nursing homes and those who work in hospital inpatient units may be needed. With use of a video about older adults and aggression as a basis for education, discussion, and interaction, geriatric/long-term care and psychiatric nurses participated in a day-long program. The conference was designed to bring the two groups together to focus on common problems and solutions, sharing information, and networking. Quantitative evaluation, including 15 items that rated the relevance, usefulness, and overall quality of the program and teaching approaches, and qualitative evaluation in the form of narrative comments about the program’s most and least useful aspects, support the value of the approach.