Essay about Falls Among Older Persons with Dementia

This work has significance because staff and patient education can help prevent falls. Specific interventions decrease falls. Nurses have a responsibility to their patients and their facility to be competent and confident in their abilities to do all that they can to prevent falls. Facilities have the responsibility to provide the tools and the training that is required to carry out fall prevention

The purpose of this research paper was to examine the latest research and evidence-based practices related to inpatient falls. Falls among the elderly within a hospital setting has increased within the last decade. Inpatient falls have become the second leading cause of death, causing longer hospital stays and indirect costs for the hospital. The research reviewed multiple studies, which discussed the causes of inpatient falls. A few causes included nurses and staff not knowledgeable of current hospital practices, lack of individualized plan of care, and lack of training related to falls. The findings assisted the writer to revise the current fall policy and procedure for Arrowhead Regional Medical Center (ARMC). A fall reduction program

Brittany Nix- This writer believes a key point or concern for health care professionals is how to keep the middle age group safe while maintaining privacy and independence. In comparing the first research to the current, data findings revealed the incidence of falls in middle-aged inpatients were similar to older inpatients. Far too often this writer feels the nursing profession stereotypes the older population while overlooking the risk in middle aged adults. This writer believes this research challenges nursing professionals to implement individualized fall prevention for patients, regardless of

In USA, one in three adults over age 65 suffer fall while 20% to 30% experience moderate to severe injuries (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2010). In 2010, the cost of falls among elderly people for US health care system was over $30 billion (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2010). Over the last few decades the rate of fall related deaths in USA has sharply been escalating. Many older adults have developed the fear of falling, limiting their social activity and forcing them to live in fear. Some adults suffer lacerations, fracture and trauma during fall, deteriorating their quality of life.

The study’s findings revealed that of the 183 patients that fell while hospitalized, the average age was 63.4 with the ages ranging from 17 to 96. It also discovered that many of the falls were unassisted, occurred in the evenings and in the patient’s hospital room, and had fallen during ambulation. It was also discovered that falls related to elimination increased the risks for injury. Out of the medical, cardiology, neurology, surgical, oncology, orthopedic, and women/infant units that were included in the study, the medical and neurology units had the highest incidence of falls. These units also had the highest patient to nurse ratios (Hitcho et al., 2008). These findings also determined that falls occurred when patients were unassisted, ambulating, and were related to elimination needs. Because of these findings, prevention measures should focus on increasing staff assistance while patients are ambulating and supervised/assisted toileting schedules need to be provided. The findings can be applied to all areas of nursing. Despite prevention efforts, threats to reimbursement, and good intentions, falls still remain a serious and costly

The widespread falls among the geriatric population reduce their quality of life and take away their functional independence. Lee et al (2013) state that falls leads to the rise in mortality rates and morbidity complications such as fractures and disabilities,1 out of 3 elderly persons in a community setting falls in a year. About 87% of all fractures in the elderly are due to falls. Several of the risk factors that are associated with falls are visual impairments, cognitive impairments, and health-related problems: arthritis, orthostatic, back pains, lack of balance-weakening muscles, previous falls, polypharmacy or psychoactive drugs (Lee et al, 2013).

“In the United Sates, unintentional falls are the most common cause of nonfatal injuries for people older than 65 years (Hughes, 2008).” This illustrates a problem that requires addressing. “Rates of falls vary across hospitals and units however, the highest rates are found in neuroscience (6.12-8.83/1000 patient days) and medical (3.48-6.12 falls/1000 patient days) units” (Mion, 2014). Older adults are usually those most affected and their falls are

A fall is a lethal event that results from an amalgamation of both intrinsic and extrinsic factors which predispose an elderly person to the incident (Naqvi et al 2009). The frequency of hospital admission due to falls for older people in Australia, Canada, UK and Northern Ireland range from 1.6 to 3.0 per 10 000 population (WHO 2012). The prevalence of senior citizen’s falls in acute care settings varies widely and the danger of falling rises with escalating age or frailty. Falls of hospitalized older adults are one of the major patient safety issues in terms of morbidity, mortality, and decreased socialization

Falls occur in every age group but we most often hear about them occurring in the elderly population. I chose to research this topic because I have worked in a nursing home, home health, and at a small community hospital where I have seen falls occur at each of these facilities. I truly feel that we as nurses should take a stand to do everything we can to prevent these falls from occurring. I have heard nurses say I hope that they do not fall because of the paperwork that follows but yet they do little to assess or improve the risk of this occurring. It is stated that from “2010 to 2011, four hundred and fifty thousand people aged 65 years and over were admitted to the hospital as the result of a fall” (Duffy, 2013, p.259). That number is staggering to me because of how many lives that would affect and the impact it has on our health care system.

Falls are considered a leading cause of mortality and injury among older adults and majority of the falls occurs while hospitalized. One would think being in the hospital would be one of the safest places for older adults as far as fall prevention is concern due to the fact that hospitals provide staffing around the clock for patients but more and more falls have been occurring in the hospital especially in the older adult population. Fall is an unintended descent to the ground. It raises public and family care liability; it also decreases patient’s functioning because it causes pain and suffering, and increases medical costs (Saverino et al, 2015). The Center for Disease Control

The criteria that will be established for inclusion in the study includes: a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease, and a history of one or more falls in the last 180 days. Prior to the fall risk assessment project implementation signed consent from participants, health care representative, or guardians will be obtained. The project will be done through a pre- and post-data analysis. Twenty members will be chosen through random sampling from the criteria list.

This kind of challenging behaviour leads to abuse. In aged care settings falls are common. It was suggested by Hudson (2003), with up to 60% of resident’s experiences fall one or more falls during a 12-month period. People with dementia don’t know what is good for them or what is not.

Twenty percent to 30% of people who fall suffer moderate to severe injuries, which impact their ability to ambulate and maintain activities of daily living. Even those not injured may develop a fear of falling and thus limit their activities, which in turn may lead to decreased mobility and function, resulting in increased risk of falling. Decreased mobility also leads to imbalance, loss of postural reflexes, skin breakdown, and multiple problems for older adults. Falls are the sixth leading cause of death for older adults and contribute to early death. Hip fractures are one of the serious consequences of falls. Hip fractures are a contributing factor in 40% of nursing home admissions. Recurrent falls are a common reason for admission of previously independent older persons to long-term care facilities. Falls are the most common cause of traumatic brain injury (TBI) and accounted for 46% of fatal falls among older adults (Jager, Weiss, Cohen, & Pepe, 2000). In addition to the physical and psychological outcomes of falls, the medical costs are significant, $0.2 billion ($179 million) for fatal falls and $19 billion for nonfatal fall injuries (Stevens, Corso, Finkelstein, & Miller,

When a person suffers from dementia then they are at an increased risk of falls. People with Alzheimer’s and other types of dementia tend to be at a high risk of falling. They are more than three times more likely to fracture their hip when they fall, which leads to surgery and immobility. The rate of death following a hip fracture for those with Alzheimer's is also increased. Thus, fall prevention for people with dementia is critical. There are many causes for a person with dementia to fall over and jeopardise their health, the first is Physical Weakness, Gait Changes and Poor Balance, Lack of Physical Exercise, Memory Impairment, Poor Judgment and Visual Misperception, Alzheimer’s can affect the visual-spatial abilities, a person can misinterpret what he sees and misjudge steps, uneven terrain, shiny areas on the floor or changes in floor color. Be sure to have his vision checked regularly.

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.