Sitters In Nursing

A patient who is admitted to a facility may be alert, oriented, and independent in ambulation. Add on intravenous (IV) tubing attached to a pole, a telemetry monitor, a foley catheter, and new medications for the patient. This patient now has fall risk factors. The purpose of this paper is to describe and evaluate change in preventing falls in the hospital setting.

During hospitalizations, falls are amongst the highest preventable consistent adverse events. Preventing such undesirable events, enhances patient overall experience, as well as increased trust in the health care professional team (Fragata, 2011). The importance of fall prevention lies with the many serious unfavorable health outcomes it can pose on the patient. Falls have the potential increase length of hospital stay, limit mobility, independence, but can ultimately lead to health deterioration, including death. Worldwide, falls are the second leading cause of accidental death. In addition to the life-threatening health and safety risks falls have to the patient, it also as a financial impact,

As a nurse we want to ensure that our patients receive a high quality of care. Patients should feel safe and satisfied while hospitalized. Many hospitals are continually looking for answers and implementation to significantly reduce the inpatient fall incidents. According to Bechdel et al (2014), the top priority of health care organizations nationwide is to reduce and eliminate falls within the clinical care settings. One of the serious problems in acute care hospital is the patient’s fall. The unfamiliar environment, acute and co-morbid illnesses, prolonged bedrest, polypharmacy, and the placement of tubes and catheters are common challenges that place patients at risk of falling. Most of the falls that I have encountered while working involves

Patient falls in hospitals are a critical problem and are used as a standard metric of nursing care quality. According to the Joint Commission, thousands of patients fall in hospitals each year. Approximately 30-50% of falls result in injuries and prolonged hospital stays. Any patient in a hospital is at risk for falling and certain measures should be in place to prevent this. Preventing falls and injuries are not only important for the patient, but also for their families, the hospital, health care team, and insurance companies. It is estimated the average cost of a hospital admission due to a fall is $20,000 and by 2030, an estimated $54 billion will be spent on health care costs due to falls. The purpose of this paper is to explore the risk factors of falls in hospitals and interventions used to combat this problem.

Problem: Patient falls have long been a common and serious problem in hospitals across the nation, causing

“The primary root causes of fatal falls as reported by healthcare organizations involved inadequate staff communication, incomplete orientation and training, incomplete patient assessment and reassessment, environmental issues, incomplete care planning, unavailable or delayed care provision, and inadequate organizational culture of safety.” (Joint Commission, 2007) If a client is high-fall-risk, implementing continuous observation by bringing in a sitter for the patient would be best. If there are patients that are demented or confused, it

Capan, K., & Lynch, B. (2007). Reports from the field: patient safety. a hospital fall assessment and intervention project. Journal of Clinical Outcomes Management: JCOM, 14(3), 155-160.

Patients are medicated, in an unknown environment, attached to lines, drains, and physiologically impaired in some manner. They are at a very high risk for falling. The American Hospital Association explains how participating hospitals have reduced falls by 27% by using the bundles and toolkits from Hospital Engagement Network (AHA HEN), this process requires the interdisciplinary team involvement. Each has their own role, nursing plays a critical role in fall prevention, they are with the patient for 12hours in a hospital setting and have direct care with assessing, creating a care plan, implementation of interventions, and evaluation. They can report any concerns or data to the

As the United States population is advancing in age, the amount of patient falls and medical costs are estimated to increase. Approximately 700,000 patients fall per year in the hospital, which one-third of those falls could have been prevented (AHRQ, 2012). Prolonged hospital stays related to fall injuries is very costly. In 2013, a total of $34 billion dollars was paid due to falls by patients and insurance companies (CDC, 2015). Examples of injuries that can occur as a result of falls are fractures, lacerations, or internal bleeding (AHRQ, 2012). Studies also show

In addition, high risk participants received education relating to falls which involved nurses instructing participants not to get out of bed without assistance, to press the call-bell for assistance and how to use the call-bell. As part of this study protocol, participants in the intervention group received usual care which include: fall risk assessment, placing the call-bell, TV remote control, eyeglasses, dentures, and hearing aids within the patient’s reach. Other interventions that have been used were bed and chair alarms, bed was in the lowest position at all time except when care was being provided and bed brakes were locked at all times. The patient’s elimination needs were scheduled every two hours, bedside commode was provided for frequent elimination needs, the patient was not left unattended while on bedside commode or in the bathroom. For a safe bathroom environment toilets was raised, toilet seats were secure, and handrails was strong enough to support patients, and patient was also instructed to pull the call light if feeling dizzy or in need of any assistance . Furthermore, the room temperature was

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

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

Patient safety is one of the nation's most imperative health care issues. A 1999 article by the Institute of Medicine estimates that 44,000 to 98,000 people die in U.S. hospitals each year as the result of lack of in patient safety regulations. Inhibiting falls among patients and residents in acute and long term care healthcare settings requires a multifaceted method, and the recognition, evaluation and prevention of patient or resident falls are significant challenges for all who seek to provide a safe environment in any healthcare setting. Yearly, about 30% of the persons of 65 years and older falls at least once and 15% fall at least twice. Patient falls are some of the most common occurrences reported in hospitals and are a leading

A fall can make wide spread consequences on the health service or can be affected seriously by the increased health care utilization. Among the fallers approximately 30% of falls result in physical injury leading to extensive hospitalization with significant hospital expenses (Tzeng & Yin 2010). Preventive care phases can support health services to regulate the spare expenditure to a greater extend. A fall in hospital consequently affects the nursing staff, which lead to impaired job satisfaction, additional work load and startling time consume. As the front line of care, nurses can prevent falls and reduce fall injury rates in acute care unit with available resources (Dykes et al. 2013). This literature review aims to assess the efficiency of planned interventions to reduce the incidence of falls in acute medical units. The discussions of the main findings of the review as well as the recommendations for further research are revealed to conclude this study.

If patient safety is the most important issue in Health Care facilities then how come hospital inpatient falls continue to be the most reported of all accidental falls (Tzeng & Yin, 2009)? Throughout the years, hospitals continue to make changes to decrease the risk of accidents and increase the quality of patient safety. With research studies and improvements made, patient falls still hold the largest portion of reported incidents in hospitals (Tzeng, & Yin, 2008). According to Tzeng & Yin (2008), “fall prevention programs apparently do not effectively reduce inpatient fall rates because of human factors and ergonomics in a hospital environment (p.179, para. 2). The two studies reviewed in this paper were performed with the hopes of