César Fernando Rodríguez Silva, student of the nursing program, participated as a speaker in the Precolloquium XXIV Meeting of Young Researchers Unisanitas. VIII Encuentro de Semilleros de Investigación UDCA: Fortaleciendo redes de conocimiento para el cuidado de la salud, organized by the Asociación Colombiana de Facultades y Escuelas de Enfermería (ACOFAEN), Unisanitas and Universidad de Ciencias Aplicadas y Ambientales (UDCA).
During the event held in Bogota, the nursing student presented the paper “Firm roots, safe steps: educational intervention to increase the knowledge of users and caregivers for the prevention of falls”. The objective of this research was to evaluate an educational intervention strategy to increase the degree of knowledge and skills of users and their caregivers for the prevention of falls.
The research involved 11 participants (6 patients and 5 caregivers). After the intervention “firm roots, safe steps”, there was an increase in the average total knowledge score, which went from low (2.2) to moderate (3.9), the indicator that had the greatest change in the score was the correct use of safety mechanisms: proper footwear, bed rails, correct height of the bed, proper use of handrails and chair in the bathroom.
With respect to the risk control indicator, a change was observed in the total score, which went from never demonstrated (1.9) to frequently demonstrated (4.2). 72.2% of the participants managed after the intervention to identify between 6 and 7 risk factors for falls among them (poor lighting, inadequate footwear, presence of obstacles, absence of support rails, wet floor). In addition, 79% of the participants identified personal risk factors for falls.
The research was guided by Natalia Esquivel Garzón, a professor attached to the School of Nursing. The students Ivonne Alejandra Castro and Laura Nathalia Calderón Lozón also participated in the study,
Laura Nathalia Calderón Lozano, Aura María Muñoz Estupiñán, María Alejandra Rueda Pérez, Mario Alberto Sánchez Sánchez and César Fernando Rodríguez Silva also participated.
“It was quite an enriching experience, beyond having allowed me to learn about the whole process of participating in a pre-colloquium, it made me reflect a little about myself and what it implies to be a UIS student. I consider that on a personal level it greatly increased my confidence and allowed me to see that the work done by us students has more value than it is usually given, my invitation is to dare to give visibility to what you put effort into, learn to value your work and seek new experiences that allow you to polish yourselves day by day in everything you can imagine, so that you can give the best of yourselves now and always,” he said.
