Inpatient falls constitute a major clinical, supervisory, and legal issue, though not much information exists on the subject of successful fall reductions (Rosenthal, 2007). CMS (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) has ceased to reimburse healthcare facilities for traumatic inpatient falls. With increased aging of the American population, preventing falls has become more important than ever before. Elderly, weak patients depict greater risk of falls, with more serious consequences. Fall prevention within the nation’s acute care facilities gives rise to distinctive challenges, considering the fact that it involves severely ailing patients with an average hospital stay of a mere 4.9 days. Such a compressed acuity increases healthcare practitioners’ burden to ensure patient safety; thus, fall prevention intervention results for long-term patient care organizations might not be applicable to facilities providing acute care. Likewise, international results might probably not be generalizable to the American context, as international hospitalization durations tend to be longer. Fall prevention initiatives are generally multifaceted and involve a number of aspects dependent on leader participation and multi-disciplinary frontline employee cooperation. Initiatives might call for sound monitoring plans for ensuring hospital employees abide by established patient care rules (Hampel et al, 2013).
For facilitating identification of patients’ fall risk factors and guiding fall prevention initiatives within the acute care context, falls are generally classified into the following categories: expected physiologic falls, accidental falls, or unexpected physiologic falls. Further, risk factors are also grouped as extrinsic or intrinsic, the latter including:
· Low endurance of physical exertion
· Orthostatic hypotension or decrease in blood pressure due to dehydration, standing, or lower extremity muscular weakness
· Reduced mobility, poor balance, or unsteady walk on account of neurologic conditions, pain, or musculoskeletal abnormalities
· Foot issues which lead to peripheral neuropathy (paresthesia) or pain
· Vision impairment on account of glaucoma, cataract or low depth perception
Extrinsic factors or factors with external origins include physical environmental conditions (e.g., inadequate lighting, slippery floor because of any kind of spill, irregular threshold, or clutter) (American Nurse Today, 2015).
Implementation of a Falls Prevention Program
A complex, multidisciplinary strategy was adopted for formulating...
References
Aiken, L. (2005). Improving quality through nursing. In D. Mechanic, D. L. Rogut, D. Colby, & J. Knickman (Eds.), Policy challenges in modern health care (pp. 177). New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press
American Nurse Today. (2015). Focus on falls prevention. Retrieved from https://www.americannursetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/ant7-Falls-630_FULL.pdf
Hampel, S., Newberry, S., Wang, Z., Booth, M., Shanman, R., Johnsen, B., … Ganz, D. (2013). Hospital Fall Prevention: A Systematic Review of Implementation, Components, Adherence, and Effectiveness. J Am Geriatr Soc, 61(4), 483–494. doi: 10.1111/jgs.12169
McCarter-Bayer, A., Bayer, F., & Hall, K. (2005). Preventing falls in acute care. Journal of Gerontological Nursing, 31(3), 25-33.
McKinley, C., Fletcher, A., Biggins, A., McMurray, A., Birtwhistle, S., Gardiner, L., … Lockhart, J. (2007). Evidence-based Management Practice: Reducing Falls in Hospital. Collegian, 14(2). Retrieved from https://www.collegianjournal.com/article/S1322-7696(08)60551-X/pdf
Rosenthal, M. B. (2007). Nonpayment for performance? Medicare's new reimbursement rule. N Engl J Med, 357, 1573–1575
Western Australia Department of Health. (2003). Falls Prevention Policy. Perth: WADOH
Woloshynowych, M., Rogers, S., Taylor-Adams, S., & Vincent, C. (2005). The investigation and analysis of critical incidents and adverse events in healthcare. Health Technology Assessment, 9(19).
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