Abstract

Hospitalized older adults may experience a decline in functional status from their preadmission baseline, over the course of a hospital stay, and often improve little by the time of discharge, regardless of the admitting diagnosis. Elements of hospitalization including the physical environment and some patient care practices can contribute to poor outcomes; one area in which older hospitalized patients are at high risk is functional decline. Models of care have been designed to prevent functional decline and achieve better outcomes for hospitalized elders. The Acute Care for the Elderly (ACE) model integrates a physical environment designed to foster functional independence along with changes in nursing and medical care delivery, specially trained staff and an interprofessional team approach.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of the Acute Care for the Elderly model on functional decline and associated nurse sensitive outcomes (falls, nosocomial pressure ulcers, and nosocomial urinary tract infections) compared to a regular medical unit. This study was a prospective observational trial that utilized a quasi-experimental, potentially non-equivalent, control group design to compare complications in two different hospital treatment groups (ACE unit and a regular medical unit).

Description

This dissertation has also been disseminated through the ProQuest Dissertations and Theses database. Dissertation/thesis number: 3293028; ProQuest document ID: 304830349. The author still retains copyright.

Author Details

Sharon S. Wexler, PhD, RN

Sigma Membership

Omega Delta

Type

Dissertation

Format Type

Text-based Document

Study Design/Type

Quasi-Experimental Study, Other

Research Approach

Mixed/Multi Method Research

Keywords:

Elderly Adults, Patient Outcomes, Patient Care

Advisor

Elizabeth Capezuti

Second Advisor

Terry Fulmer

Third Advisor

Eugenia Siegler

Degree

PhD

Degree Grantor

New York University

Degree Year

2007

Rights Holder

All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record.

All permission requests should be directed accordingly and not to the Sigma Repository.

All submitting authors or publishers have affirmed that when using material in their work where they do not own copyright, they have obtained permission of the copyright holder prior to submission and the rights holder has been acknowledged as necessary.

Review Type

None: Degree-based Submission

Acquisition

Proxy-submission

Date of Issue

2023-03-24

Full Text of Presentation

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