Upon completion of these courses, you will be able to:

ALTERED MENTAL STATUS:

• Indicate potentially reversible etiologies of dementia
• Identify features of delirium
• Recognize pitfalls in the management of older emergency department patients with altered mental status

GERIATRIC ABDOMINAL PAIN:

• Apply a broad differential diagnosis for the older patient with acute abdominal pain
• Identify short term mortality risk of older emergency department patients with acute abdominal pain
• Identify difficulties encountered in diagnosing abdominal pain in older patients

GERIATRIC TRAUMA AND ELDER ABUSE

• Indicate three events that account from approximately 75% of all trauma-related morbidity and mortality in older patients
• Identify characteristics of cervical spine injury in the older trauma patient
• Recognize the differences between outcomes of older patients cared for in trauma centers to those in nontrauma centers
• Identify pitfalls in the evaluation of older patients with acute hip fracture

INAPPROPRIATE PRESCRIBING AND ADVERSE DRUG EVENTS:

• Indicate appropriate and inappropriate medications for elderly patients in the emergency department
• Identify emergency department diagnoses associated with an increased risk of inappropriate prescribing in older patients
• Recognize the role of renal function in the selection of medication dosages for older patients

PAIN MANAGEMENT AND PROCEDURAL SEDATION:

• Identify how physiologic changes associated with aging can impact pain management and procedural sedation
• Recognize commonly prescribed analgesics and sedatives that should generally be avoided in older patients
• Identify appropriate pharmacologic options for pain management and procedural sedation in older patients in the acute care setting