Falls Prevention
Falls Prevention
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Tay Dove-Zoladz, Khushbu Patel, Laurie Hayes
Purdue University Northwest
College of Nursing
NUR 45200
BACKGROUND
What are falls?
An unplanned descent to the floor with or without injury to the patient.
According to the agency for healthcare research and quality also known as AHRQ, defines falls as an unplanned descent to the floor with or without injury to the patient.
WHO states that falls are the second leading cause of unintentional injury deaths worldwide. In our case study,The interventions for fall prevention that were in place were not enough and the staff was not compliant with the implementation. This lead to an increase number of fall rates in the past year.
Depth & Breadth
700,000-1,000,000 falls annually
250,000 lead to fractures
11,000 deaths
$50 billion spent -non fatal fall injuries
$754 million- fatal falls
In general, experiencing falls after a surgery or in the hospital can be detrimental. WHO states that falls are linked to higher mortality rates, longer hospital stays, and increased healthcare costs.
AHRQ reports there are 700,000 to 1,000,000 hospital falls each year
Out of those falls, 250,000 falls lead to injuries and about 11,000 deaths occur. About 15% of falls cause bone fractures and injuries to the brain.
After these falls, there can be severe consequences faced by the patients and hospitals. In the past year, $50 billion was spent on nonfatal FALLS and $754 million on fatal falls. What is more important is that most fall cases are preventable and measures can be taken to prevent them from occurring. We will be talking more about this later in the slides.
Causes
Can be multifactorial
Consequences
Can be for both patients and organization
Higher mortality rates
Longer hospital stays
Increased healthcare costs
Financial burdens
Legal consequences
Injuries (physical and emotional trauma)
To understand why the falls, occur and to prevent them, it is crucial to identify the potential causes. There can be many factors that can lead to falls. After these falls occur, the consequences that the patients and the organization have to suffer can be severe.
For the patients, it leads to longer hospital stays, financial burden that comes with increased costs, and they may also go through emotional and physical trauma.
For the organization and staff involved, they may have to go through legal consequences and increased costs as well.
CASE STUDY ANALYSIS
Current Measures:
Admission assessment (hx)
Documentation (EMR) Q24hrs
Morse Fall Scale
Yellow Star
Root Cause Analysis identified potential causes for the rise in falls which included:
Policies
Implementation, Accuracy, Documentation
People
RN, CNA, Managers, Family/Visitors
Environment
Workload, Clutter, Lighting
Patient Factors
Post-Surgery Recovery, Medications, Acuity
Equipment
Lack of, Reliable, Training
| Month | Our Unit | Comparison Unit | Comparison Unit |
| Jan | 13 | 1 | 0 |
| Feb | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Mar | 12 | 2 | 10 |
| Apr | 6 | 1 | 6 |
| May | 4 | 1 | 0 |
| June | 5 | 2 | 0 |
| July | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| Aug | 12 | 0 | 1 |
| Sept | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| Oct | 8 | 0 | 0 |
| Nov | 4 | 0 | 1 |
| Dec | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| Mean | 7.08 | 0.75 | 1.58 |
| Median | 6 | 1 | 0 |
| Mode | 12,6,4 | 1,0 | 0 |
Case study info
The issue!
Non-compliance with:
Current Measures
Communication
Let’s make a difference!
Multiple interventions
Proper monitoring of compliance.
COMPLIANCE
As we know, being compliant with the protocols and policies in the hospital are important to ensure that all patients are receiving optimal care. Compliance ensures best results, IF they are proper rules in place and if there is a proper way to ensure compliance.. In our case study, it was mentioned that the yellow stars on the doors or the notices were not being changed. The case study also mentions of lack of communication between the staff members.
INTERVENTIONS
ACTION PLAN
| Indicator: | What data will be collected: |
| Fall education and risk prevention. | Interviews for knowledge and education assessment. |
| Hourly rounding on patients. | Daily audits. |
| Bed alarms and call bells implementation. | Randomized audits of EMAR and bedside compliance. |
| Yellow falling star indicator on patient door. | Daily audits. |
| The Morse Fall Scale completed. | Daily audits. |
The indicators chosen to prevent falls on the medical-surgical unit are to educate patients on falls and preventative measures, the implementation of hourly rounding, activation of bed alarms and orientation of the call bell. As well as the application of a yellow star on the patient door to signal fall risk and lastly the completion of fall risk with the use of the morse fall scale. Data will be collected with the use of daily aduits, randomized audits, and interviews.
Plan for Improvement
Upon presenting to the Medical-Surgical unit patient will be educated on falls.
Patient will be assessed of fall rate with Morse Fall Scale.
Patient at high-risk for falls will have bed alarm on, yellow star outside door, and call bell within reach.
Hourly rounding will be completed throughout shift
Upon admission to the Medical-Surgical the patient will be educated on what a fall is defined as and the preventive measures that are implemented to prevent them. The patient will be assessed using The Morse Fall Scale to determine one’s likelihood of a fall. The Nurse will also activate the bed alarm and orient the patient on the call bell such as what it is for, how to use it and when. A falling yellow star will be placed outside patients door to inform staff that patient requires assistance with ambulation or may not be ambulatable. Despite fall risk level all patients are checked on hourly by staff to ensure safety and personal needs are met.
Interventions
Orient the patient to surroundings, including use of call bell.
Educate patient on patient expectations on using call bell.
Place call light within reach.
Answer call light promptly.
Falling star outside the patient’s door.
Activated bed alarm.
Staff rounding every hour.
A fall risk assessment tool used.
Based on a patient’s level of fall risk different interventions need to take place. While other interventions are standard practices. It is standard practice to perform hourly rounding on a patient as well as orientate them to the room and the call bell system. It is also expected of the nurse on each admission to assess the patient’s risk for falls with a scale tool. If patient is moderate to high risk for falls other interventions such as bed alarm and falling star are activated to provide advance safety measures and surveillance.
REFERENCES
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2020, July 9). Cost of older Adult Falls. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved September 8, 2022, from https://www.cdc.gov/falls/data/fall-cost.html
Preventing Falls in Hospitals. Content (March 2021). Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. https://www.ahrq.gov/patient-safety/settings/hospital/fall-prevention/toolkit/index.html
World Health Organization. (2021, April 26). Falls. World Health Organization. Retrieved September 6, 2022, from https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/falls#:~:text=Falls%20are%20the%20second%20leading,greatest%20number%20of%20fatal%20falls.
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