Bed and Chair Alarm in to Help Reduce Falls in Short-Term Care Facility In long-term care facilities (e.g., assisted living centres and nursing homes), a fall is one of the single most devastating category of unpleasant events. In consequence, there is need for long-term care facilities to pay attention to issues of resident falls. To a significant extent, adequate fall prevention depends on the ability of caregivers to hold on to a well-structured process that comprises of timely fall risk and post fall evaluations and targeted multidisciplinary involvements, which are based on recognized risk factors and reasons why falls occur. To lend support to nurses in their attempts to control these falls, certain technologies that relate to minimizing the number of hazards linked to falls have been found to be vital strategies against the luxury of resident protection. Some of the most popular technologies used for fall management include:

Fall alarms (e.g., device designed to put caregivers on the alert that the resident is standing up from bed, wheelchair/chair or toilet without assistance.

Devices for injury protection (e.g., hip protectors capable of reducing the effect of a fall and hip rupture, low beds capable of reducing the risk of injuries arising from falls from bed, and cushioned floor mats capable of providing a conducive landing area, thereby preventing possible injury in case a fall occurs from the bed) (Tideiksaar, 2009).

Distraction theory use in bed and chair alarm focuses on reducing falls since pain requires a lot of conscious attention. Nevertheless, if patients are distracted by pleasant distractions like nature view, they tend to have less consideration of their pain; hence the pain they experience will diminish. This theory forecasts that the higher the level of environmental distraction, the higher the level of pain reduction. This suggests that nature distractions can be more distracting and more effective in decreasing pain, if they incorporate sound and visual stimulation, and prompt high sense of immersion. As noted, the theory envisages that nature exposures can be more captivating and hence pain relieving after they include both sound and visual distraction (Ulrich et al., 2008).

Bed and chair alarm within clinical nursing expertise play a huge role in delivering quality patient care. Aspects that influence expertise have mainly focused on individual nurse features, which have eliminated contextual factors when installing bed and chair alarms in hospitals (this aspect is missing in the literature review) (McHugh & Lake, 2010).

Every nurse in every clinical environment should make the prevention of a patient's fall a top priority. Multidisciplinary groups across the field of care gather daily as champions of fall to determine how best to identify patients that are at the highest risks of experiencing a fall and to find strategies for quick and effective prevention. Almost all nurses can remember a particular event where a patient fell, or almost fell. As patients get older and become more vulnerable, with higher comorbidities to deal with, their risk of getting hurt rises. In the same way, as the American nurses get older, there are increased risks of injury, which creates scenarios where harm can become a rising concern. This report gives a description of the knowledge on patient falls and how nurses can overcome barriers and challenges that stand in the way of creating environments where patients are protected against falls. Some of the most common health issues facing adults above the age of 65 in more developed countries are falls and fall-induced injuries. About one-third of older people experience falls. Within this population, falls are leading causes of deaths resulting from injuries. Falls are almost the major causes of injuries and hospital admissions. Even when the falls do not lead to death, they can cause long-term hospitalization of the injured. Most victims spend about one year to recover fully. Some suffer loss of function and disability, and cannot go back to their homes; most of them end up losing their independence. Falls contribute immensely to the functional decline of patients and higher healthcare use. Even if no serious injury occurs from the fall, it may increase the chances of the patient being placed in a skilled nursing home. Serious falls raise the possibility of a patient being placed in a skilled-nursing home, by about tenfold. A fall can induce prolonged pain and suffering, and also limit function, which imposes more societal and family care burdens. Healthcare organizations can minimize the frequency of patient falls, if their leaders are serious about bringing change, and permit staff to share safety concerns openly without any fear of reprisal or retaliation. When such a culture cannot be found in an organization,...

There are several fall-preventing programs today, both in the healthcare and community settings across a wide variety of environments. The implementation of this type of program can help minimize falls and ensure that older people lead longer better quality lives for prolonged periods. To reduce falls, there may be need for healthcare facilities to purchase some safety equipment in order to upgrade their infrastructures with senior-friendly signage, lightening, color schemes, and several other such improvements (American Nurse Today, 2012).
Synthesis

Fall management technology can play a vital role in the prevention of falls and the reduction of adverse effects that accompany them. Nevertheless, inappropriate technology for residents or inadequately implemented technology into already existing delivery systems can really predispose patients to injuries and falls. The main purpose of this manual is to:

Provide an outline of falls in long-term care centres and the components of best practice fall prevention and injury efforts.

Provide an outline of different products or technologies available to help prevent fall and injury efforts.

Provide direction on fall alarms and implementation of a fall alarm program

Provide guidance on the prevention of hip fractures with hip protectors and the implementation of a hip protector program.

Provide direction on the prevention of hip fractures with hip protectors and the implementation of hip protector programs (Tideiksaar, 2009).

Falls in hospitalized patients are quite common and pose very serious threats to the safety of patients. Some common incidents reported in hospitals are accidental falls, which comprise of about 2% of hospital admissions. About 25% of falls in hospitalized patients lead to injury, while 2% cause fractures. There are substantial costs associated with falls, which includes costs of the care given to the patient, coming from increased liability and length of stay. Most of the falls that occur in hospitalized patients take place in patient rooms and relate to ambulating from a chair, bed, or toilet, without proper assistance. Bed alarm systems, such as chair or bed alarms, could possibly minimize falls by alerting health care personnel when patients try to leave their chair or bed without any assistance. Another possible benefit is the ability of these bed alarm systems to reduce the need for physical restraints. These alarm systems work by simply making use of 1-2 eight-sensitive sensor pads attached to the beds, chairs, or commode. Once this contact is no longer there between the alarm sensor pad and the bed or chair, an alarm in the patient's room goes off and sounds as a call at the central nurses' office. When they are used for patients in beds, or bed modes, the pad is kept anywhere between the shoulder blades and the buttocks. Higher placement (the shoulder blade) gives the care giver more time to respond, enabling him/her reach the patient trying to leave his/her bed without assistance, and the sensing interval can be raised from 4-8 seconds on the bed pressure pad to minimize falls alarms.

When you use this in chair mode, you hear an immediate alarm the moment a patient starts lifting his/her body out of the sensor pads. Due to the flexible and lightweight nature of the pads, they can easily be wrapped around one end of a toilet seat, which helps in the monitoring of unassisted rising number of patient falls from the commode while maintaining the privacy of the patient (Shorr, Chandler, Mion, Waters, Liu, Aniels & Miller, 2012).

Fall alarms are early warning systems; they let the nursing staff know when at-risk residents are participating in tasks that can lead to falls. Nevertheless, the inappropriate choice or misuse of such fall alarms may really keep residents predisposed to falls and injuries (Tideksaar, 2009).

Because these falls are some of the most significant adverse effects witnessed in hospitals, prevention of falls is one of the most critical components of any patient safety strategy. Adequate communication among patients, staff, and their families enhance the transfer of information, building of relationships, and increase capability for positive patient protection culture change. According to Aberg, et al.2009, the staff's active involvement in reporting the fall event system and in the follow-up process that ensues comprises of a vital part of a fall preventive security culture. Effective fall prevention is, to a large extent, dependent on caregivers and their ability to adhere to the structured process…