Patient injuries sustained from a fall while hospitalized are a never event. Rev
ID: 89629 • Letter: P
Question
Patient injuries sustained from a fall while hospitalized are a never event.
Review the following e-book available in excelsior library:
Morse, J. (2009). Preventing patient falls. New York, NY: Springer Publishing Company. Retrieved from http://site.ebrary.com/lib/excelsior/reader.action?docID=10273903
Initial Discussion Post:
A patient has just fallen in the hospital unit where you work and fractured their skull. A team of personnel are asked to collaborate and develop a fall prevention program that includes using the Morse Fall Scale.
In your initial discussion post
Identify the members included on the team
Identify the components used in the Morse Fall Risk Scale
Identify key points when developing a fall prevention plan
Base your initial post on your readings and research of this topic. Your initial post must contain a minimum of 250 words. References, citations, and repeating the question do not count towards the 250 word minimum.
Explanation / Answer
Falls are a major health concern especially in aging people who are 65 years or older. A fall is defined as an unplanned event in which a person comes to rest inadvertently descent to the floor. They are the most common patient safety issues in hospitals. Rates of fall are more among the hospitalized patients leading to severe physical or serious injuries. It isconsidered as "NEVER EVENT" because there is an evidence based practice approach to prevent falls. As falls prolong hospitalization and increase cost of care, it is important to develop a fall prevention program to ensure patient's safety and to minimise the incidence of falls.
A team of personnel should include clinical nurse leader, patient care assistants, staff nurses , unit director to collaborate and work together in an effort to reduce the number of catastrophic fall events that occur within the hospital units. The team should use Morse Fall Scale for assessing a patient's likelihood of falling. The components included in the Morse Fall Scale are
History of falling within three months(yes= score 25, No= score 0), secondary diagnosis(yes= score 15, No=score 0), ambulatory aid( Furniture= score 30, cane/walker =score 15, none= 0), IV or heparin shock( Yes= score 20, No= score 0), Gait/transferring ( impaired= score 20, weak =score 10, normal = score 0),mental status( if answer lines up= score 15 , if not =score 0).
This scale is easy to score as it just involves adding up the numbers for all six factors mentioned. If the
scores fall between 0 to 24 , it indicates that the patient has low risk of falling. A score of 25 to 44 indicates medium risk of falls and a score above 45 indicates high risk of falls.
After assessment of fall risks in a patient, based on scores observed a fall prevention plan is developed. If the patient is at low risk for falls then the plan should include,
*Referrals for the interdisciplinary team members relative to the type of risk factors such as diet and nutrition
*Keeping the bed in lower positions
*Ensuring patient's foot wear is adequate and nonslippery
*Educating the patient and family about good practices of fall prevention
Fall prevention plan for medium risk patients should include
* physical therapy such as gait and balance assessment training
* Assisting the patient who needs transferring for toileting
* Ensuring nonskid floor mats
* Medication review by pharmacy
Fall prevention plan for high risk patients should include
* Reviewing effectiveness of current care plan and making necessary changes
* Ensuring all the personal items of the patient are within accessible reach
* Placing the color arm band on patient's wrist indicating fall prevention
* Placing hip protectors and other protective equipment