Fall Prevention Case Study

Problem: Are fall prevention programs effective in reducing the number of falls in nursing home elderly and community dwelling elderly?

assessments (PFAs) are essential to prevention of future falls and implementation of risk-reduction programs, particularly in institutional settings. The initial post fall assessment includes assessment of the patient for any obvious injuries and the provision of appropriate treatment. If the older adult cannot tell you about the circumstances of the fall, information should be obtained from staff or witnesses. The purpose of the PFA is to identify the underlying cause(s) of the fall and assist in implementing appropriate individualized risk-reduction interventions. Because complications of falls may not occur immediately, all patients should be observed for 48 hours after a fall. Standard “incident report” forms do not provide adequate post fall assessment information.” (Marquis & Huston, 2012)

Falls are a big concern for all employees in a hospital setting daily. The worst thing that can happen to a patient while being hospitalized is a fall, or a major fall, that could result in skin damage (i.e. wounds, skin tears, or abrasions), a fracture or break, thus limiting their independence. This student’s goal was to develop a way to educate staff members in ways they can help reduce the number of falls that occur. Developing a sample Fall Risk Prevention Policy as well as a Staff in-service on fall risk and Prevention achieved this goal.

The recommended implementation of the fall prevention program in an organization includes admitting older patients at risk for falls. Such a program requires time, money, collaboration effort from the staff, and administrative support. Fall risk is a growing patient issue in the unit therefore the proposal solution is needed to prevent fall. It is a comprehensive approach to improve the health condition of the elderly in the unit.

Effective communication is crucial aspect of nursing yet too often is placed low on the priority list, especially at shift change. Information related to the care of patients is frequently disseminated at a crowded, noisy nurse station with several nurses rushing to leave and others attempting to get the information necessary to plan care and limit the constant distractions. It is this interaction that allows for information vital patient safety information to be communicated including the acuity of patients.

Missed or ineffective communication can have severe consequences to the life of a patient. A patient’s clinical condition can deteriorate very quickly and the ability to communicate nursing assessment data rapidly and in a way that will be effectively received can

Communication is any form of expressing and receiving of messages between individuals. The importance of Communication in the nursing profession is to maintain high quality care for the patient but also maintain effective collaboration between professionals. Boykins, D (2014) states that the “registered nurse is expected to communicate in various formats and in all areas of practice”. Various formats include speaking to patients and coworkers as well as utilizing appropriate protocols and systems to effectively communicate regards to patient’s status.

This paper will discuss about fall prevention, which is one of the major issue leading to mortality and morbidity in health care setting (ACSQHC 2012, p. 6). The five peer reviewed articles related to the fall prevention will be used.

A patient fall is one of the unit-based nursing-sensitive indicators in 6 East, a 22-bed adult unit in a 594-bed tertiary hospital in downtown Charleston, SC. The majority of the patients’ population in this unit is pre and post liver transplant, renal transplant, pancreas transplant, nephrology, urology, and general medicine. The fall rates in 6 East were 6.09 total falls per 1,000 patient days during the 1st quarter of 2015 and 7.56 on the 2nd quarter. These statistics were tremendously beyond the 3.28 total falls per 1,000 patient days of the National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators (NDNQI) benchmark of hospitals of > 500 beds. The significant fall rates in the unit accounted about 35% of the total falls on the hospital during the first half of the year. Although the hospital has a fall prevention program and policy, there is a knowledge gap among nurses and patient care technicians (PCT) regarding fall prevention due to lack of proper education reinforcement. This has led to an increase of staff non-compliance with the policy and fall rates in the unit. Furthermore, with the unit having high staff turnover rates, the newly hired staff members are not getting a proper staff education on fall prevention. Therefore, these newly hired staff members are unable to implement the fall prevention strategies and procedures efficiently.

“For example, these nurses developed a standardized manner with consistency and coherence to perform fall assessment and documentation as well as collect the patient information regarding fall prevention” (Breimier, Halfens, & Lohrmann, 2015, p. 8).Participants identified the Falls CPG included useful recommendations, were helpful in decision making, for each field (Breimier, Halfens, & Lohrmann,

Nearly every one of our client have a care plans related to fall prevention. During our nursing assessment we assess their ability to perform ADL’s, strength and gait, cognition, hearing, visual acuity, use of assistive device and medications. These factors help us to determine whether the client is less likely to have a fall and can continue to live independently

The hospital acute care nurses have a difficult time and contradictory set of goals providing direct patient care (Oliver et al., 2008). Aside from maintaining patient safety during hospitalization, nurses need to address the problem that prompted the patient’s hospital admission. Hence, they must help support or assist the patient to an optimal state of physical and mental health (Chang et al., 2004). Oliver et al., (2008), stated fall prevention includes the management of a patient’s underlying risk factors (e.g., toilet needs, confusion, medication side effects, problems with gait and transfers). Fall prevention also includes utilizing the best of the hospital’s physical design and environment (Nitz & Johnston, 2014; Oliver et al., 2008).

Evaluation of the project outcome is critical in assessing whether the fall reduction programs are productive and of benefit to the participants or in other words, assessing the general value of the program (Miake-Lye et al., 2013). In this case, the rate of falls and potential resultant injuries and the overall adoption of fall prevention practices are critical components of quality improvement of the program. They are crucial parameters for evaluating the success of the implementation project as well as learning from the successes and the challenges herein. In the case of this project, it is anticipated that there will be a decrease in the rate of falls among the patients. It is also expected that the number and severity of injuries due to

In conclusion, patient safety is a priority to all health care professionals; prevent falls and fall-related injuries is the chief priority for patients admitted to the The implementation of the Unit-Base Resource Nurse leading up to the Fall Prevention Program, This comprises multidisciplinary

People with lack of knowledge about falls have more chances of falling. The proposed implementation plan would prevent falls in adults and elderly by making them acknowledge preventive measures. Proper prevention and awareness programs against falls supports the facts that before the implementation of the project, no knowledge was provided to patients relating to the factors that cause a person to fall. The issue that could rise prior to the plan implementation would be whether every common individual of age will have access to the programs. Therefore, it should be considered that certain measures must be assessed so that no person finds the program difficult. To make sure that the program is carried out effectively, health organizations would be asked for approval of the plan. Permission would also be sought from the officials of the government. From this project, the outcome measures would bring out vital knowledge among the older people with positive results. Overall, falls prevention would be achieved.