This case study will list the major causes of falls among the elderly. In completion of this case study, learners will be able to take a focused history from an elderly person or witness when a fall has taken place, perform a focused physical examination to help determine the cause of the fall, evaluate the complaint of “dizziness”, and perform basic strategies to prevent falls among the elderly.

The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) and the Hartford Institute for Geriatric Nursing at New York University College of Nursing (HIGN), with generous funding from the John A. Hartford Foundation, developed these case studies to facilitate the transition to Adult-Gerontology APRN education as described in The Consensus Model for APRN Regulation: Licensure, Accreditation, Certification and Education. One of the major goals of this project is to provide Primary and Acute Care Adult NP faculty, Adult CNS faculty, and other faculty who prepare NPs or CNSs to care for older adults, (e.g. FNPs, WHNPs, Women’s Health CNSs), with multiple resources and strategies to assist them in making this transition.