Evaluation of a Concussion Management and Discharge Education Training Module for Emergency Department Nurses

Purpose: The purpose of this project was to improve the Emergency Department (ED) nurses’ knowledge on identifying patients at risk for concussions and delivering effective concussion discharge education using an educational training intervention. Methods: This project used a descriptive, non-randomized pre-post survey design. Participation involved three stages: a pre-education survey to assess baseline concussion education knowledge, an educational intervention consisting of a narrated PowerPoint presentation, and a post-education survey to evaluate knowledge on concussion discharge education. The intervention was delivered online via the UK Canvas educational platform. Results: The majority of nursing staff participants were female (97%) and had a bachelor’s degree as their highest level of education (91%). Of those participants, 23% did not have prior knowledge of concussion education, and roughly 75 % had less than 3 years of experience as a nurse. There was a statistically significant (p=0.005) improvement in participants’ knowledge of concussion discharge education from the pre-survey (M=20.1, SD= 1.6) to the post-survey (M=21.1, SD= 1.4). Conclusions: Findings indicate that the educational training intervention helped ED nurses gain knowledge on how to identify concussions and deliver concussion discharge education to patients, over 18 years of age suffering from concussions. As head traumas continue to be a leading diagnosis in ED’s and other Level-1 trauma settings, it is imperative to implement a standardized concussion discharge education training program for nurses such as the one implemented in this project to promote patient safety and wellbeing