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Essay on the important concepts in fall prevention
Falls prevention in hospital essay 1500
Falls prevention in hospital essay 1500
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The staff nurses and patient care technicians (PCT) in 6 East were not getting the sufficient education reinforcement regarding fall prevention. Consequently, this has created a knowledge gap among staff members regarding fall prevention strategies. The knowledge gap in fall prevention has led to an increase of staff non-compliance with the policy and the trending increase of fall rates in the unit during the 1st and 2nd quarter of 2015. The plan to mitigate this problem was developed through the collaboration with the nursing leadership on the provision of staff education on fall prevention. The stakeholders involved were the unit manager, fall prevention resource nurse, and clinical nurse educator who were interested in coordinating the quality
In Stage one, a sample of patient records were reviewed and EPFRAT was used to calculate fall risk rate by the two authors to establish interrater reliability. In Stage two, a retrospective chart review of all patients who had experienced a fall during their admission was conducted and
Capstone Project: Falls Prevention and Risk Assessment of the Elderly Population while in Long Term Care facility Evidence Based Practice – NUR 4775L Dr. Susan Poole, DNP, CNE November 22, 2015 Capstone Part I: Falls Prevention and Risk Assessment of the Elderly Population while in Long Term Care facility Introduction to Problem According to Centre for disease Control (CDC) more than 1.4 million people 65 and older live in nursing homes. If current rates continue, by 2030 this number will rise to about 3 million (CDC, 2014). Nursing home residents are at an increases risk for falls depending on the acuity of their illness and their mental state.
Did you realize that as per the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality around 700,000 to1 million patients fall in hospitals each year. 11,000 of these falls result in death. This increases hospital costs to more than $14,000 extra dollars and the patient’s length of stay is increased by an extra 6 days. This is considered a hospital acquired condition. Medicare and Medicaid do not reimburse hospitals for this!
Objective One During my clinical day three, I demonstrated entry-level competence in professional nursing practice in caring for patients with multiple and/or complex unmet human needs. I addressed safety needs, safety in medication administration, effective communication, and surveillance for my patients. First, I addressed safety needs my ensuring the appropriate safety measures were implemented for the patients. Some of the safety measures included, wearing non-skid socks, wearing a yellow armband which indicated fall risk, keeping the bed in lowest position, two side rails up, bed locked, and the call light within reach.
Falls of critically ill patients admitted to the ICU routine should be avoided developing certain strategies used outside this area, such as prevention of displacement, promote stability, elimination of sliding hazards routinely ensure that the patient is oriented to the environment and the bell is at the fingertips, keeping the beds in the lowest position and braking, providing adequate lighting, and provide anti-slip footwear and technical assistance in lifting patients bed. The response time of the call prolonged ringing patient or family is just one of the potential causes of falls, firstly because if the response time is greater serve their needs later, and partly because no response to the patient may start feeling agitated. Shift schedules nurses can be particularly effective in preventing falls, as they allow the staff to anticipate and address the needs of each patient. The tubing, drains and cables must be securely to prevent tripping when lifting or embody patients. Although falls can happen without warning, subsequent falls can be avoided if the etiology of them is
The necessity to reduce patient falls is the trigger in this circumstance. This is a knowledge- focused trigger since the purpose is to implement a practice that has been shown to prevent falls. The next step is establishing if the issue is a top priority for the clinic, division, or section. Patients should be a top priority in any acute care facility, as they can result in catastrophic injuries and even death (Cullen et al., 2022).
Change is inevitable not only in the hospital setting but also in all other organizations that put the safety of stakeholders at hand. It is, however, sometimes challenging to have all stakeholders adopting a proposed change since some individuals would rather stick to the old ways of doing things as opposed to trying out new interventions (Guse, Peterson, Christiansen, Mahoney, Laud, & Layde,, 2015). Nevertheless, positive change is essential, especially when such a change is expected to positively impact on the safety of patients (Johnson, Veneziano, Green, Howarth, Malast, Mastro, Moran, Mulligan, & Smith, 2011). The purpose of this paper is to critique the adoption of hourly rounding as a nursing intervention for preventing falls.
The second article that was reviewed came for National Guideline Clearing house (NGC, 2012). The methods used to analyze the evidence were review of published meta-analyses and systematic review. The major outcomes considered in the study were sensitivity, specificity, and reliability of screening tools, risk factors for falls and fall rates. There were numerous recommendations that were recommended to reduce and prevent falls among the elderly population. However the best practice in fall reduction includes falls risk assessment , visual identification of individuals at high risk for falls , falls risk directed interventions and standardized multifactorial education including visual tools for staff, families, and patients (NGC, 2012).
This is reviewed with any change in patient status, a fall, and/or quarterly. Patients, depending on screening, might receive services from physical therapy (PT), occupational therapy (OT), nutritional services, bed/chair alarms, floor mats, medication adjustment, and change in room to closer to the nurses’ station, or other services. All at risk patients are easily identifiable by notation on wrist band, footwear, room and equipment signage, in the electronic medical record, and on any paper records. The fall rate of patients at SAVAHCS continues to be at or slightly below the benchmark, but our goal is to have zero falls. The intervention not fully utilized at this hospital, that does show promise in the literature, is the post-fall huddle.
Significance of the Problem for Nursing: Prevention of falls in the elderly is an extremely important facet of nursing. Elderly falls often result in fractures, pain, decreased mobility, traumatic hemorrhages, as well as increased healthcare costs. Due to the increased prevalence of injuries acquired from elderly falls, increased risk of morbidity in the elderly experiencing falls, and the growing number of elderly patients, it is of vast importance that nurses research and incorporate evidence-based fall prevention practices to prevent falls in the elderly
Numerous research has shown evidence-based practice strategies to help reduce and prevent falls in hospitalized patients. According to Day et al. (2012), exercise is one approach used by Geriatric nurse practitioners to reduce and prevent falls in the elderly. Physical activities such as strength, gait, and coordination training which last for a minimum of 12 weeks has been effective in reducing falls in the elderly. The researcher further elaborated that a primary care provider such as a nurse practitioner can refer a patient who is at risk for falls to a Tai Chi program, an operative, and cost effective technique to encourage exercise and strength training in the elderly.
Problem Identification Getting out of bed is one of the dangerous things that the elderly patients do when they are admitted in the hospital. Study conducted by Ambrose, Paul & Hausdorff, (2013) on patient falls reveals that a majority of falls in the elderly patients occur between 0700 and 1900, especially when they are getting out of bed to use the rest room. The cause of their falls is mainly due to unsteady gait, memory loss, confusion that comes with age. Memory loss and vision problems which occurs during old age in the elderly patients puts them at risk for falls. Other factors that can lead to falls are; Presence of throw rugs, psychotropic medications, lack of Vitamin D, and weakness of the lower extremities.
It also provided the use of critical thinking and clinical judgment on how to prevent falls, support, and be accountable for a client professionally. The practical knowledge I have learned helped me become aware of assessing and assisting a client. As a nurse, our job is to provide “safe, compassionate, competent and ethical care” (p.8) and collaborate as an interprofessional team to deliver safe care and prevent risks from happening while offering quality nursing care (CNA, 2017). I will always provide the professional care under the code of ethics to promote health and wellness for an older adult and prevent risks from happening. As well as following the plan of care, use communication strategies, be aware, acknowledge, and accommodate individuals with different diseases such as with dementia, to promote fall prevention strategies (RNAO, 2017).
I will also discuss on how this clinical situation could be done differently. Clinical scenario I was posted to a medical ward in National University Hospital for my clinical posting. There is a particular cubicle allocated for patients with very high risk of fall called the “Green eye cubicle “. Patients in that cubicle are usually confused or not compliant to fall precaution.
