Advance Professional Roles and Values Project
Falls

Keri Cochran
October 20, 2014
Western Governor’s University

The problem and explanation: The hospital I am employed at is currently having an issues with patient falls. The hospital is a “no restraint facility” and strongly discourages the use of any form of restraint including leather, soft, posey vests, or chemical. Currently the line of defense is using staff sitters, moving the patient to a visible room when available and or family members are encouraged to come and stay with their loved ones who are at high risk of falls. This does not always rectify the issues secondary to staffing issues and family participation.
The facility has had two critical falls this year, one ending in a patient breaking a hip and the other a death secondary to hemorrhagic bleed to the brain. The facility has had numerous other falls which lead to added procedures, exposure to radiation (radiological exams) and increased lengths of stay, multiple bruises, fractures, pulled out IV which need to be preplaced, and numerous bleeds and skin tears.

The unit I work on is a Medical Surgical Telemetry (4 Tower) unit which consists mainly of pre and post open heart patient and pre and post angiogram patients who may or may not have had interventions which include stents, plasty, TCPA, Pacemaker / AICD placement, and EP studies with ablations. The patient population is mainly sixty years of age and above, with a high incidence of diabetes (neuropathy), cardiovascular disease which includes CAD, Dysrhythmias, CHF, HTN. Most of the patient have had some sort of narcotics in procedure and or for pain control after surgery which increases the chance for a fall. The facility uses a fall risk screening tool which is required every shift. The fall prevention kit includes the patient wearing yellow socks, yellow wrist bands, fall