Falls are preventable

Has anyone had a hip fracture?

Did you know the lifetime cost of a hip fracture for elderly patient’s was estimated to be between $21,525 and $86,967 total of all procedures (Frick et al., 2010). Also, the medical costs of falls totaled $19 billion in 2010 (Center for Disease Control, 2008).

           Preventing incidence of falls can be utilized in any healthcare setting or any home settings. Unfortunately, falls do occur in healthcare settings, However, falls are preventable through education and implementation of safety measures. A successful patient outcome is the basis for nurse’s development of a fall prevention plan.

 Strategies of fall prevention should be discussed at in-services. Facility policies should be followed to provide safety precautions. Fall risk profile completed every 12 hours is important initially after a fall. The most successful fall prevention programs reduce fall rates by 30 per cent (Rutledge, &Schub, 2011).

        Did you know approximately, 19 per cent of inpatient falls occur during ambulation, 11 per cent getting out of bed, and 4 per cent using the bedside commode or toilet while hospitalized (Healey, 2010).

        Falls are a leading cause of injuries and deaths among the elderly. A history of falls increases the risk of falling again.  An increase in readmission rate occurs after early discharge. This is seen when appropriate discharge teaching is not implemented. An example of appropriate discharge teaching is education about household fall hazards. Also, healthy behaviors such as participating in exercise and using proper body mechanics when changing positions or ambulating could result in fewer falls. Another idea is teaching the person how to get up from the floor, summon help, move about, and how to keep warm while on the floor. Falls are preventable through education and implementation of safety measures. Did everyone know that bed alarms and low bed height really have little to no benefits in preventing falls? Just to let everyone know according to Sorrentino et al., (2010) there is little to no benefit to using these interventions. Therefore, we need to provide accurate information in fall prevention policies and practices, which will result in increased communication and trust between patients, their family, and the nursing staff.

Nurses play critical roles in fall prevention, decreased falls mean better patient care, and less falls causing injury in a facility lead to greater trust from all patients and community members (Healey, 2010). Nurses will feel confident in their work skills when audits and surveys returned indicate decreasing incidents of falls occurring.

        The goal of the nursing care plan and patient interventions is to make health promotion a way of life for individuals, families, and communities. Improving the safety of patient’s environment will reduce distraction and potential of falls. Fall prevention interventions can include ensuring patient’s change the environment to promote a behavior change (Pender et al., 2011).  For example, the patient's rooms could have televisions mounted on the walls in order to provide more room to ambulate without obstacles. Patients can be taught to use nightlights at night while ambulating.

           Safety at all times is important. The use of medicine increases the risk of falls up to 25% when taking one medicine, up to 60% when taking six or more medicines. Patients can be taught to schedule taking medications while having a full stomach. An effective fall prevention program to be offered by the Advanced Practice Nurse or Nurse Educator would include education of nurses, and nurse’s aids about falls and risk factors to prevent falls.

           Hopefully, everyone learned the importance of following fall intervention programs to prevent or decrease the incidence of falls. Also, remember to use proper body mechanics to prevent injury when assisting others. This blog can be used by healthcare workers, families and the community in order to prevent falls.

Thank you for checking out this blog. Sue

Reference

Center for Disease Control and Prevention. (2008). Preventing falls: How to develop community-based fall prevention programs for older adults. Atlanta GA: National Center for Injury Prevention and Control.

Frick, K.D., Kung, J. Y., Parrish, J. M., &Narrett, M. J. (2010). Evaluating the cost-effectiveness of fall prevention programs that reduce fall-related hip fractures in older adults. Ethics, Public Policy and Medical Economics.The Journal of American Geriatric Society, 58(1).

Healey, F. (2010).A guide on how to prevent falls and injury in hospital.Nursing Older People, 22(9), 16-22.

Itkin, A. First Steps After Suffering a Slip-and-Fall Injury in      California Retrieved from http://www.arkadylaw.com

Pender, N., Murdaugh, C. & Parsons, M. A. (2011).Health promotion in nursing practice. (6^thed.). Upper Saddle River, Pearson Education, Inc.

Post Care Patient Education Using a Transfer Belt (2009).Retrieved from http://www.PreOp.com

RRutledge, D., &Schub, T. (2011) Evidence- Based care sheet: Fall prevention in hospitalization patients.Cinahl Information System

SSorrentino, S. A., Remmert, L. N., &Gorek, B. (2010). Mosby’s essentials for nursing assistants (4^thed.). St. Louis, MI: Mosby Elsevier.