Abstract
Safety should be a top priority for health care providers and falls are frequently viewed as a primary safety concern. The National Patient Safety Goals require that facilities be aware of each patient's risk for falls and implement a plan to reduce the number of falls. The evidence has shown that multiple factors contribute to falls. Briggs and Steel (2007) identified poor vision, delirium, pharmaceuticals, a hazardous environment, and chronic dementing illness as contributing to a greater risk of falls. Toyabe (2010) identified having a history of falls, unsteady gait, weakness, and age over 65 years. A large rural hospital implemented a patient safety fall prevention educational plan utilizing the Hendrich II Fall Assessment Tool (Hendrick, Bender, & Nyhuis, 2003). Then after six months, the effectiveness of the plan was reviewed. To evaluate the effectiveness of the plan, the Hendrich II Fall Assessment Tool was converted to a check list that evaluated each room for certain items: intravenous tubing on floor, bed in lowest position, call light in reach, all necessary items in reach, and no cords lying on the floor, presence of a fall risk magnet on the door to the room, wristband identifying the patient was a fall risk, and yellow colored socks. Then, utilizing a correlational analysis, researcher found that there was no statistically significant difference when evaluating compliance with the plan and the number of patient fall on a unit. However, it was noted that all units were involved in utilizing the plan. Nevertheless, based on the mix of patients, the compliance with the plan and the number of falls varied. The data did reveal a moderate negative correlation noting that the units with higher numbers of falls had smaller levels of compliance with the Fall Assessment Tool Implementation Plan.
Sigma Membership
Unknown
Type
Presentation
Format Type
Text-based Document
Study Design/Type
N/A
Research Approach
N/A
Keywords:
Educational Intervention, Safety, Falls
Recommended Citation
McCoy, Tammie Mann, "Evidence-based practice educational programs and patient safety related to falls" (2012). Convention. 142.
https://www.sigmarepository.org/convention/2011/presentations_2011/142
Conference Name
41st Biennial Convention
Conference Host
Sigma Theta Tau International
Conference Location
Grapevine, Texas, USA
Conference Year
2011
Rights Holder
All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record.
All permission requests should be directed accordingly and not to the Sigma Repository.
All submitting authors or publishers have affirmed that when using material in their work where they do not own copyright, they have obtained permission of the copyright holder prior to submission and the rights holder has been acknowledged as necessary.
Acquisition
Proxy-submission
Evidence-based practice educational programs and patient safety related to falls
Grapevine, Texas, USA
Safety should be a top priority for health care providers and falls are frequently viewed as a primary safety concern. The National Patient Safety Goals require that facilities be aware of each patient's risk for falls and implement a plan to reduce the number of falls. The evidence has shown that multiple factors contribute to falls. Briggs and Steel (2007) identified poor vision, delirium, pharmaceuticals, a hazardous environment, and chronic dementing illness as contributing to a greater risk of falls. Toyabe (2010) identified having a history of falls, unsteady gait, weakness, and age over 65 years. A large rural hospital implemented a patient safety fall prevention educational plan utilizing the Hendrich II Fall Assessment Tool (Hendrick, Bender, & Nyhuis, 2003). Then after six months, the effectiveness of the plan was reviewed. To evaluate the effectiveness of the plan, the Hendrich II Fall Assessment Tool was converted to a check list that evaluated each room for certain items: intravenous tubing on floor, bed in lowest position, call light in reach, all necessary items in reach, and no cords lying on the floor, presence of a fall risk magnet on the door to the room, wristband identifying the patient was a fall risk, and yellow colored socks. Then, utilizing a correlational analysis, researcher found that there was no statistically significant difference when evaluating compliance with the plan and the number of patient fall on a unit. However, it was noted that all units were involved in utilizing the plan. Nevertheless, based on the mix of patients, the compliance with the plan and the number of falls varied. The data did reveal a moderate negative correlation noting that the units with higher numbers of falls had smaller levels of compliance with the Fall Assessment Tool Implementation Plan.
Description
41st Biennial Convention - 29 October-2 November 2011. Theme: People and Knowledge: Connecting for Global Health. Held at the Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center.