Fall Prevention

Provide mandatory, up-to-date education related fall prevention. Every single one in this facility can have the adequate capacities to prevent falls and offer education to patients, family members and caregivers regarding skills and knowledge of fall prevention. Develop policies in multifaceted and tailored strategies with evidence-based practice (Breimier, Halfens, & Lohrmann, 2015). Have more awareness and "need for individualizing the care plan and communicating the plan to those working with the patient becomes evident when implementing a fall reduction program" (Ambutas, Lamb, & Quigley, 2017, p 179). In addition, maintain consistency or accuracy in risk identification and action planning, as well as obtain patient and caregiver’s commitment to adhere to the safety plan on the daily basis (Silva, & Hain, 2017). Everyone is in the same page and conduct measures effectively and efficiently. Evaluate and assess the implementation of strategies monthly. Change and correct properly and timely to reach the aim of zero falls.

When we think about medical safety and the risks we can prevent by proper technique and proper method of planning, we must discuss falls. Medical staff and researchers have discovered that falls are among the most common and reoccurring potentially serious safety problems in a medical environment (Byers & White, 2004). Falls greatly affect all types of health care including; acute care, long-term care, and nursing homes, becoming a top health priority internationally. Research has shown that more than one third of people above the age of 65 years fall every year, along with increasing numbers for those with chronic conditions affecting mobility and illness (Child, 2012). Allowing falls to occur at this scale is not only hindering the health care provided, but may cause mortality, serious or fatal injury, patient’s hospitalization period to increase, and a potential reduction of the quality of life of the patient (Child, 2012). An important concern with fall prevention is miscommunication in medical planning and improper use of equipment that decreases the chance of a fall. Falls can be reduced by educating medical staff and designing programs to establish techniques and prevention incorporating everyone that is involved in the patient’s care. By interacting with the medical staff and designing new and improved strategies, teams have recognized a significantly lower fall rate even within a time period

Hospital falls are extremely common. In a study that was conducted to describe the epidemiological nature of hospital falls, they found that that about 183 of 1,300 patients fell during the period of study. Hospital falls are more common in the elderly where the average age of the patients who had fallen was found to be 63.4%. Many of the falls were unassisted (79%) and they had occurred while the patients were in their own rooms (85%). Generally, the number of falls in hospitals ranges from 2.3-7 falls per 1,000 patient-days and it was found that 30% of the falls that happen in hospitals result in injury with 4-6% leading to serious injuries ADDIN EN.CITE Hitcho20041043(Hitcho et al., 2004)1043104317Eileen B HitchoMelissa J KraussStanley BirgeWilliam Claiborne DunaganIrene FischerShirley JohnsonPatricia A NastEileen CostantinouVictoria J FraserCharacteristics and Circumstances of Falls in a Hospital Setting: A Prospective AnalysisJournal of General Internal MedicineJournal of General Internal Medicine732-7391972004( HYPERLINK l "_ENREF_2" o "Hitcho, 2004 #1043" Hitcho et al., 2004). Some of the serious injuries include subdural hematomas, fractures, excessive bleeding and in some extreme cases, death ADDIN EN.CITE Belechri20021044(Belechri, Petridou, & Trichopoulos, 2002)1044104417Belechri, M.Petridou, E.Trichopoulos, D.Bunk versus Conventional Beds: A Comparative Assessment of Fall Injury RiskJournal of Epidemiology and

The physical, social, psychological, and financial impact that falls can have on the elderly population is particularly tragic because falls are frequently preventable (CDC, 2012). This report will examine the findings of recent research into fall prevention in hospital settings, to better understand the preventive

‘A fall is an event that results in a person coming to rest inadvertently on the ground or floor or other lower level’.[1] In Maryland, each year more people 65 or older die from falls and associated complications than motor vehicle accidents & suicide combined, making it the leading cause of injury related death and admission to hospital in this age group. [2] To address this problem and as part of the ongoing revision of the current prevention protocols, this memo is written to the office of Dr Sharfstein, the Secretary Maryland department of health and mental hygiene

Falls in a health care setting are costly to the patient, the health care facility and may affect the reimbursement that insurance gives to hospitals, yet they are preventable. Falls can be minor with just a few bumps and bruises or they can be major which can result in death. Not only are falls harmful to the patient but there is a lot of money and time that gets added up after a fall occurs *** There are many factors as to why a fall could take place, but being aware of the risk that a patient is a fall risk from the beginning can help avoid a fall from ever occurring. Accurately identifying a patient as a fall risk and communicating to other staff within 24 hours of admission is key to help in the prevention of falls.

Falls are the leading cause of medical complications in health care facilities in the United States. Statistics from The Joint Commission shows that hundreds of thousands of patients fall in hospitals every year, with 30-50% of those falls resulting in injury (“Preventing falls and fall-related injuries,” 2015). Furthermore, the consequences of falls are that injured patients will require longer hospital stay leading to an increase in healthcare costs (“Preventing falls and fall-related injuries,” 2015). To prevent falls, health care facilities have implemented evidence-based intervention strategies such as fall risk assessment tools and faster call light response time.

Falls are triggered by multifaceted factors with numerous dangers that include either long or short term influencing factors. The connections between these factors may be altered by the person?s age, ailments, illnesses, diagnoses such as Parkinson?s, stroke, diabetes mellitus and arthritis, or their surroundings. The major fall risk factors for elderly include their advancing age, loss of muscle strength, unsteady gait, impaired balance, incontinence of bowel or bladder, depression, cognitive impairment, due to

Fall prevention is a primordial safety concern in hospitals. There can be multiple bad outcomes from a simple fall. The fall of a patient can result in immediate death. This is to say that a patient could fall and die on impact. Weak and confused, a patient may fall on the floor without a way to lessen the impact from the fall. This patient may fracture his or her skull. Fractured femur or hip bones can result from falls in the elderly because of their weaker bones. This would extend the length of the hospital stay for the patient. This would be terrible considering that many of these falls are preventable. The patient can become permanently disabled form a fall while hospitalized. The measures against falls are many because they can be caused

Environmental changes are another evidence-based strategy that can also assist in the reduction of inpatient falls. The lowering of bed rails, limiting the use of restraints and providing floor mats can be used in preventing patient falls. Bed rails should only be used as targeted strategies in situations where they are effective in minimizing the risk of inpatient falls and only be used on patients who are not active enough to be able to climb over bedrails (Wood et al., 2010).

This article was based upon using the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines to prevent falls from occurring. Caregivers should encourage patients to walk if they can even if it is just a short distance to maintain their ability. We should not rush them but be there for them during this time to provide reassurance. Orthostatic hypotension is an issue that many elderly patients experience in which we should allow adequate time for the patient to go from the sitting to standing positon to prevent a fall from occurring.

Additionally, individual risk factors such as medications, vital signs, and patient’s functional and emotional status on admission were assessed (Rheaume, 2015). Moreover, other factors examined included: time of day when the fall occurred, location of falls, unit staffing, risk assessment score, rounds, fall prevention interventions at the time of fall, equipment related to fall, people with patient at time of fall and patient activity at the time of fall. Post fall data included injury sustained, treatment of related injury and patient outcomes (Rheaume, 2015). A total of six patients were reviewed, three females and three

Falls are a major problem in elderly population in the United States living in nursing facilities. Statistics from Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) show that approximately 800,000 seniors fall each year and 1 in 3 of those will fall twice or one more time in a year. (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, 2012). Most falls are caused by a combination of risk factors. The more risk factors a person has, the greater their chances of falling. Healthcare providers can help cut down a person’s risk by reducing the fall risk factors

A patient fall can be defined as an event that results in the patient coming to rest on the ground or other surface lower than the body. Falls not only have physical consequences, but also have financial and emotional consequences. Falls unfortunately lengthen their hospital stay resulting in an average increase of 6.3 days. Patient who experience a fall may also experience negative psychological affects and social consequences. The loss of self-confidence in ambulating safely may result in self-imposed functional limitations which can contribute to loss of independence, decreased quality of life, and even death. Inpatient falls are associated with a higher rate of discharges to extended care facilities, and extreme fear of falling has resulted in self-isolation and wheel-chair dependency.

As a hospital administrator I will do everything in my power to try to avoid falls and overall patient safety. Unfortunately falls will happen but there are methods that can be implemented to prevent falls. The necessity to decrease them is very imperative. Preventing falls needs the vigorous commitment of numerous people. To move towards the right direction, good prevention involves administrative values and effective practices that encourage cooperation and communication, in addition to specific knowledge.