Patient Falls Prevention Program for a Hospital
Patient falls are a common and serious problem in hospitals, affecting patient safety, quality of care, and health outcomes. According to the World Health Organization, falls are the second leading cause of unintentional injury deaths worldwide, and about 37.3 million falls require medical attention each year. In hospitals, falls can result in injuries such as fractures, head trauma, bleeding, and infections, as well as increased length of stay, costs, and litigation. Therefore, it is essential for hospitals to develop and implement effective patient falls prevention programs that can reduce the incidence and severity of falls and improve patient satisfaction and well-being.
A patient falls prevention program is a systematic and comprehensive approach that involves identifying and assessing fall risk factors, implementing interventions to address them, and evaluating the outcomes and effectiveness of the program. The program should be based on the best available evidence and tailored to the specific needs and characteristics of the hospital setting and the patient population. The program should also involve multidisciplinary collaboration among health care professionals, patients, families, and other stakeholders.
The following steps can be followed to develop and implement a patient falls prevention program for a hospital:
1. Establish a falls prevention team. The team should consist of representatives from different disciplines and departments involved in patient care, such as nursing, medicine, pharmacy, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, quality improvement, risk management, and administration. The team should have a leader who is responsible for coordinating the program activities and communicating with the stakeholders.
2. Conduct a falls risk assessment. The team should use a valid and reliable tool to assess the fall risk of each patient admitted to the hospital. The tool should cover intrinsic factors (such as age, medical conditions, medications, mobility, cognition, vision, etc.) and extrinsic factors (such as environmental hazards, equipment, footwear, etc.) that can contribute to falls. The team should also review the hospital’s policies and procedures related to falls prevention and identify any gaps or barriers that need to be addressed.
3. Develop a falls prevention plan. Based on the results of the falls risk assessment, the team should develop an individualized falls prevention plan for each patient that specifies the interventions to be implemented to reduce their fall risk. The interventions can include education, medication review, exercise, assistive devices, bed alarms, signage, lighting, flooring, etc. The plan should also specify the roles and responsibilities of the health care staff and the patient and family in implementing the plan.
4. Implement the falls prevention plan. The team should ensure that the falls prevention plan is communicated to all relevant staff and documented in the patient’s record. The staff should follow the plan and provide regular feedback to the team on its progress and any challenges or issues encountered. The patient and family should also be involved in the plan implementation and encouraged to report any concerns or suggestions to the staff.
5. Evaluate the falls prevention program. The team should monitor and measure the outcomes and effectiveness of the falls prevention program using appropriate indicators and methods. The indicators can include the number and rate of falls and fall-related injuries, patient satisfaction, staff compliance, cost-effectiveness, etc. The methods can include audits, surveys, interviews, focus groups, etc. The team should analyze the data collected and identify any strengths or weaknesses of the program that need to be improved or sustained.
6. Disseminate and sustain the falls prevention program. The team should share the results and lessons learned from the falls prevention program with other staff members, patients, families, and external stakeholders through various channels such as reports, presentations, publications, etc. The team should also ensure that the program is integrated into the hospital’s culture and practice and supported by adequate resources and incentives.
Bibliography
– Currie L (ed), Fall Prevention: Evidence-Based Update 2018 [Internet]. New York: Hartford Institute for Geriatric Nursing; 2018 [cited 2023 Oct 27]. Available from: https://consultgeri.org/try-this/general-assessment/issue-14.pdf
– Healey F et al., Preventing Falls in Hospitals: A Toolkit for Improving Quality of Care [Internet]. Rockville: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; 2013 [cited 2023 Oct 27]. Available from: https://www.ahrq.gov/patient-safety/settings/hospital/resource/fallpxtoolkit/index.html
– National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), Preventing Falls in Hospital [Internet]. London: NIHR Dissemination Centre; 2019 [cited 2023 Oct 27]. Available from: https://evidence.nihr.ac.uk/themedreview/preventing-falls-in-hospital/
– Oliver D et al., Strategies to prevent falls among older people in hospital [Internet]. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2020; Issue 4 [cited 2023 Oct 27]. Available from: https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD005465.pub5/full
– World Health Organization (WHO), Falls [Internet]. Geneva: WHO; 2018 [cited 2023 Oct 27]. Available from: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/falls
