...Falls do not just occur as a result of people aging. Often, numerous risk factors and underlying causes are involved in patient falls. “A risk factor is something that increases a person's risk or susceptibility to a medical problem or disease” (cdc.org, 2013). The higher the number of risk factors the higher the risk of falls. Falls are usually related to medical conditions or physical disabilities. “Falls are the leading cause of injury-related visits to emergency departments in the United States and the primary etiology of accidental deaths in persons over the age of 65 years” (cdc.org, 2013). Increase in age, cognitive impairment medication use and sensory are all risk factors for falls. Management is focused on these underlying causes...
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...universal fall precautions. This ranged from failure to use and untimely response to bed and chair alarms, missing patient fall risk bands, cluttered patient rooms, and missed hourly rounding. Importance of this Issue Patient falls is still a significant issue in healthcare. Around 700,000 to 100,000 people in the U.S. suffer from falls in a hospital setting (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, 2013). Obviously, this is problematic because falls can exacerbate the patient’s condition. It can cause unwanted outcomes like pain, fractures, head injuries, or in a worst-case scenario, even death. Preferred Practice Falls in a hospital setting are preventable. Successful implementation of universal precautions is a big part of preventing this issue. It should always be practiced. Universal fall precautions include but are not limited to • Properly identifying patients...
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...matter how much we wish for it, there is no such thing as perfection. For the much older adult, even the slight miscalculations can lead to fall related accidents. Consequently, mishaps like these can definitely impede the quality of one’s life. Prevention is never a job done by one but rather of a team, who are working independently toward with a goal in unison. Teamwork is an effective tool in integrating measures to prevent fall related incidents among older population. Fall is a serious cause of unintentional injuries. It is defined as to drop or descend under the force of gravity, as to a lower place through loss or lack of support. (Dictionary.com) Statistics have shown that 28 – 35% of the population with ages 65 years and over fall each year and it escalates to 32 – 42% for people 70 years and older. (World Health Organization, 2007) This topic is an interesting subject to discuss, as fall injuries that lead to death are alarmingly high. According to World Health Organization, Canadians 65 years and above have a mortality rate of 9.4% in a population of 10,000. The occurrences of falls are relative to the increase of frailty and age and the need for medical attention in such cases should be a priority. (World Health Organization, 2007) Nurses take on the leadership role as the initiator to a multidisciplinary approach in preventing falls to the older population. Using a holistic method in improving the quality of life, the nurses can collaborate with the interprofessional...
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...prevent fall related incidents among older population In an ideal world, everything goes perfectly according to plan. One would be introduced to the world, gets the experience and education as one lives through the days of its life and time would come that they will get old and comfortably reminisce how they managed through their lives while stand outside of their porch. But sadly, no matter how much we wish for it, there is no such thing as perfection. For the much older adult, even the slight miscalculations can lead to fall related accidents. Consequently, mishaps like these can definitely impede the quality of one’s life. Prevention is never a job done by one but rather of a team, who are working independently toward with a goal in unison. Teamwork is an effective tool in integrating measures to prevent fall related incidents among older population. Fall is a serious cause of unintentional injuries. It is defined as to drop or descend under the force of gravity, as to a lower place through loss or lack of support. (Dictionary.com) Statistics have shown that 28 – 35% of the population with ages 65 years and over fall each year and it escalates to 32 – 42% for people 70 years and older. (World Health Organization, 2007) This topic is an interesting subject to discuss, as fall injuries that lead to death are alarmingly high. According to World Health Organization, Canadians 65 years and above have a mortality rate of 9.4% in a population of 10,000. The occurrences of falls are...
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...Evidence-Based Fall Prevention Intervention in Community Senior Centers. American Journal Of Public Health, 106(11), 2026-2031. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2016.303386 This article, written by two Ph.D.s and an M.D., evaluates the effectiveness of a balance program, Tai Ji Quan, among thirty-six senior citizen centers in Oregon. The program’s success was measured by researchers through the number of self-reported falls. The authors applied previous research in their study. All participants were thoroughly screened prior to their participation in the study. A total of 569 senior citizens were enrolled in the classes, with 77% remained enrolled and 23% withdrawing early. Three participants...
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...Falls and Risk Management Margaret Simon NUR 492 April 25, 2016 Dr. Rachel Gonzales Falls and Risk Management In the hospital setting falls are prevalent for various reasons. According to Sullivan (2013), “Risk management is a component of quality management, but its purpose is to identify, analyze, and evaluate risks and then develop a plan for reducing the frequency and severity of accidents and injuries” (p. 77). This paper will address falls as a risk management issue; discuss methods to identify patients as a fall risk, methods to implement to reduce falls, and how to inform all staff of seriousness of fall issue. Furthermore, a comparison of three other facilities and their methods will be discussed and compared to the VA hospital's plan of action. Hospital Plan for Identifying Falls Every patient that enters the hospital is required to have a fall assessment on the admission, and if the staff feels a patient's status has changed, it is completed again. The fall assessment template addresses cognitive status, hearing and vision issues, and gait and balance problems. Other information collected is his or her ability to use assistive devices such as canes, walkers, and crutches. Other information gathered is a medication list, a history of falls, and medical conditions such as vertigo. Another major issue is the environment at home, not enough lighting, rugs, stairs, and animals. In the hospital setting the number of falls is increasing clutter...
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...closely associated with the growth of the hospital and appropriate action must be taken. Creating a Quality Improvement Department is a strategic investment which will substantially increase our ability to provide safe, high quality and efficient care. This unit is specifically designed to assist in maintaining compliance with state and federal regulations, guiding employee actions towards completing organizational objectives, and establishing standards of quality, safety and efficiency. Our hospital can utilize the QI department to organize the efforts of our entire staff and drastically improve patient safety issues. In order to properly address problems with patient falls, medication errors and hospital acquired infections the organization requires a unit dedicated to quality improvement. Patient Falls The patient safety issues that have been reported include five incidents per week regarding an individual patient...
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...Williams EBP Project One of the most dangerous activities for hospital patients is the seemingly simple act of getting out of bed; it can lead to a hard fall, serious injuries and several thousands of dollars in added medical bills. Studies show that falls are most likely to happen between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m. and are commonly the result of patients getting up to use the bathroom. Patient’s most at risk for falls are those who are elderly, forgetful, or possibly confused; who even if you give them instructions, may not remember. Accidental falls are the leading cause of injury and death in adults over the age of 65, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This is a problem even in U.S. hospitals, which employ various means of making sure at-risk patients stay safe. Still, falls happen, and they come with a cost. • 2.3 million: Number of nonfatal fall injuries among older adults that were treated in ER. • 662,000: Number of those ER patients that were hospitalized as a result of falls. • 25 percent: Percentage of hospital falls that result in injuries. • 2 percent: Percentage of hospital falls that result in medical complications. • $4,000: Average dollar amount added to medical bills as a result of inpatient falls. (Sources: U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the University of Florida Academic Health Center) The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, “requires that a healthcare facility be a safe environment and setting...
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...The creation of a community based program that address fall in the older adults will play an important role in the well-being of the residents in our community. This program will address the main factors that directly affects this public health issue and promote better practices for everyone. Some of those factors are mobility and balance issues that are a normal part of the aging process, as well as conditions such as strokes and arthritis that influence mobility and balance as well. These adults are also exposed to vision changes and in some cases vision loss. Another important factor is environmental hazards such as poorly designed spaces, clutter, and poor lighting among others. Side effects of the many medications that these individuals have to take can also play an extremely important paper in the fall prevention in this sector of the community (National Center for Injury Prevention and Control,2008). With this program we intend to increase awareness of fall prevention in Kent County, development of an integral and multidisciplinary fall prevention program, development of community partnerships to involve and move organizations and individuals’ resources towards the improvement of this issue. The main components of this programs includes: education, exercise programs, medication review, vision assessment and vision correction, home safety assessment, and strengthening of social network. Education The first approach that the program will take to address the...
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...Health care institutions are the centers for different kind of healthcare services, so when patients and their families come for check-ups, surgeries, acute hospitalizations, tests, minor procedures, etc. they expect quality care and positive outcomes. Issues come up when patients’ expected outcomes are not realized due to one reason or another. Factors that may prevent positive outcomes in patient care may be quality management issues or risk management issues. Before a full introduction and analysis of risk management in my place, one has to understand quality management and risk management. In terms of quality management, they are issues that arise in the work place as a result of poor management and need to be improved on. They are more prevention oriented (Sullivan and Decker, 2009). In the case of risk management, it is about issues that are problematic throughout a health organization and may lead to poor patient outcomes. As described by Sullivan and Decker (2009), “risk management’s purpose is to identify, analyze, and evaluate risks and then to develop a plan for reducing the frequency and severity of accidents and injuries” (p. 84). Risk management is not about monthly, quarterly or yearly assessment and improvement of programs, but a daily assessment of issues that arise in the work place that may lead to bigger problems if not corrected. Current risk management issue at my work place. The main current risk management issue in my place of employment is the poor record...
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...ALTERNATIVES: Florida has demonstrated leadership and innovation in aging services and should be commended for constructing an intricate grid of programs and policies to address fall related osteoporotic hip fractures in the elderly. Created in 1991, the Florida Department of Elder Affairs (DOEA) is authorized by the Older Americans Act (OAA- 1965) and constitutionally designated by Florida voters to “serve as the primary state agency responsible for administering human services programs for the elderly” Fla. Stat. § 430.03 (2014). Furthermore, Florida has two specific statewide laws directed towards Osteoporosis. Fla. Stat. § 381.87 (1996) created the Osteoporosis Prevention and Education Program to promote public awareness of the causes...
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...environment (Erickson, J. 2011). Nurses directly impact these measures and when evidence-based practices are adopted, patient care improves as shown in historical outcomes data. In the scenario of Mr. J there were multiple failures to recognize and use nursing procedural sensitive measures to improve his safety, quality of care, and patient satisfaction. Although Mr. J had mild dementia, he was appropriately responsive, cooperative and was not a danger to himself or others. Evidence based practice does not support the use of restraints in Mr. J’s current condition. According to the ANA, restraints should be used only when there are no other viable options (American Nurses Association, 2012). Policies and procedures should advocate the use of diversion measures, bed alarms for fall prevention, as well...
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...more than 3 smoke wall penetrations were found on the 1st floor and one on the 4th floor. The hospital is to minimize the potential for harm from fire, and smoke (TJC, 2013). A review of documentation showed appropriate ILSM was not initiated during 3 construction projects this put employees and patients at risk. Education of fire safety equipment should have been completed before the project. The gift shop did not have the required 18 inch clearance from the sprinklers. All sprinklers must have at least 18 inches below and around of clearance for The Joint Commission standards. Review of department documentation shows that the master alarm panel for medical gasses was not tested annually per policy. This is a policy written by the hospital that is not being met. They are to follow the policies that they set for themselves. The Fire Drill History Report showed that the fire drill process is not adequate and does not meet standards. Quarterly fire drills are to be conducted as regulated by the Life Safety Code (TJC, 2013). Clutter was found in the hallways of 3E, 4E, OR and telemetry this could restrict people from leaving the floor safely in case of fire or smoke. Accreditations function of Nursing Leadership it was discovered that Nurses on 3E were not documenting in a timely manner. When questioned they responded that they were “too busy”. Resulting in overtime and low morale on the unit causing discussion about staffing, staffing patterns and nurse to patient ratio. This is all...
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...Fall Prevention Falls are the leading cause of fatal and nonfatal injuries for persons over 65 years old. Falls can be linked to several factors such as several medical, cognitive and functional factors. There are several factors as well as situations that can increase fall risk such as unsteady gait, vision and cognitive impairment, incontinence and environment (Huey-Ming, 2011). In 2005, a sum of 15,802 individual over 65 years of age reportedly were injured from falling and died. In 2006, 1.8 million estimated individuals over 65 years old incurred some kind recent injury related to falls (CDC, 2006). However, the number of uninjured older adults that fell or had minor to moderate injury is unknown. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the issues of falls on the geriatric unit that I am employed and the changes necessary to decrease the numbers of falls on this unit. Problem Identification The geriatric unit in the hospital where I work has an average census of 36. On this unit patient falls are the most prominent problem. According to the hospital data in the past six months, there has been an average of two falls a day and twenty injuries related to falls. The number of patient falls has increased by 35 percent in the past six months. The goal of the fall prevention program is to reduce falls percentage by 30 percent (three falls a week) for the next three months and maintain it at a maximum of one fall a month thereafter. Falls affects the safety of the patients...
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...Running head: vehicle backing procedures Vehicle backing procedures Duane A. Nelson Idaho State University Vehicle Backing Procedures The fire service is commonly recognized throughout history by the images of fire apparatus responding to fires. On these apparatus are fire fighters standing on the tailboard, preparing for their duties. These images are a thing of the past. The regulations, standards and most local policies of today do not allow these actions. Prevention measures including closed cabs, NFPA driving standards, and vehicle backing devices are all types of measures to keep fire fighters from falling from the apparatus or being injured by apparatus backing. Even as we have put these preventive measures into place fire fighters continue to be injured or killed. Vehicle Backing NIOSH Fatality Report The injury or fatality of a fire fighter is a catastrophic event, but when this event should be able to be prevented it is especially difficult. The event on August 14, 2004 report F2005-01, showed us again how quickly such accidents can occur. After an incident involving multiple apparatus responded; units began to be terminated, one apparatus needed to be backed out of the area. During this backing operation a 25-year-old female career fire fighter died when she apparently fell from the tailboard and was backed over. During this fatality as per the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) of this department, the fire fighter was riding on the tailgate...
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