Evidence-Based Strategies for Preventing Patient Falls in Healthcare

This comprehensive report delves into the critical issue of patient falls within healthcare settings, examining their increasing incidence across all age groups and the significant impact on patient outcomes, functional independence, and financial burdens. The study focuses on evidence-based strategies to prevent falls, emphasizing the crucial roles of nurses, caregivers, and other healthcare professionals. It explores the effectiveness of interventions like hourly rounding and toilet supervision, particularly for cognitively impaired geriatric patients. Through an analysis of the PICOT framework, the report identifies key factors contributing to falls and proposes interventions, including the implementation of administrative policies and improved communication among healthcare teams. The report also scrutinizes the financial and psychosocial aspects of patient falls, highlighting the need for educational programs for all stakeholders involved in patient care. This analysis aims to bridge clinical gaps and promote safe, patient-centered care, ultimately reducing the incidence of falls and improving patient well-being.

Running head: NURSING
NURSING
Name of Student
Name of University
Author note

1NURSING
The incidences of fall have been increasing across all age groups in the world that
lead to clinically concerning injuries and complex traumas (Growdon, Shorr, & Inouye,
2017). The injuries inflicted by the falls on an individual, impact their functional
independence. In a health care framework, the fall ratio of the patients has been increasing
globally and overall, it is an area of clinical and social concern (McGinley et al., 2019). The
research study focuses on fall of the patients in a clinical scenario and at home. Falls has been
hindering the care process and overall recovery rate of the patient to a great extent. The study
emphasizes on the role of nurses and other caregivers on prevention of the same. The study
focuses further to understand, in details the various possible reasons that lead to this clinical
gap resulting in increased fall ratios of the patient. Lack of care process and supervision
during the toileting activities has been an area of concern amongst healthcare frameworks
across the world and the study finds out that cognitively impaired geriatric patients have high
fall ratios in relation to this specific environmental scenario (Hester et al., 2016). The
financial aspects of the ‘falls’ and the psychosocial aspects of the patient ‘falls’ has been
discussed from many perspectives. Through an explorative and explanatory analysis, the
research study determines various factors that lead to increase in falls rates and various other
factors diminishing and eliminating the chances of falls (Stephenson et al., 2015). The
financial aspects relating to the incident of falls amongst the patients has been scrutinized in
details and the extra burden of the patient in terms of extended hospital stay and additional
socioeconomic burden has been elucidated as well.

2NURSING
The research plans to identify key issues related nursing care and the caregiver service
that plans to bridge the gaps in clinical environment through the right interventions. The
study recognizes dangerous and risky clinical scenarios that lead to increased number of falls
amongst the patient submitted in a hospital. The interventions identified by the study include
purposeful ward rounding by the nurses and other health care professionals along with
forming of the right administrative policies to comply the nurses and other caregivers with
the safe patient centered care. The behavior and approaches of health care workers is also
very important, as researched upon the study. The study also highlights various other areas of
health care and overall patient centered care approach to expand the understanding of health
risk analysis and management in relation to prevention of patient falls.
The PICOT framework analyzed by study, included patients between 40-70 years of
age (P), who undergoes toilet and rounding supervision (I), and this group is compared to
another group of patients who has no assistance (C) and the research is undertaken to check
whether the group under supervision has reduced incidences of falls (O), in the last three
months (T). The analysis takes into consideration – the hospital administrators, nursing
leaders, nurses, physicians, patients, caregivers plus the patient families for understanding the
role of supervision and support to the patient to reduce the incidence of falls. The practice
change empowered and recommended by the analysis, focuses on educational needs for all
the stakeholders involved in direct or indirect patient care process – that is the health care
professionals, the assistants, the family of the patient and the administrators. Various vital
factors related to intentional rounding, improved patient handovers to other departments in
the hospital and to the patient’s family during the discharge – has been recognized by the
analysis. The study identifies effective communication between the healthcare professionals
as an important facilitator in prevention of patient falls.

3NURSING
Reference
Growdon, M. E., Shorr, R. I., & Inouye, S. K. (2017). The tension between promoting
mobility and preventing falls in the hospital. JAMA internal medicine, 177(6), 759-
760.
Hester, A. L., Tsai, P. F., Rettiganti, M., & Mitchell, A. (2016). CE: Original Research:
Predicting Injurious Falls in the Hospital Setting: Implications for Practice. AJN The
American Journal of Nursing, 116(9), 24-31.
McGinley, P., Ansari, E., Sandhu, H., & Dixon, T. (2019). The cost burden of falls in people
with glaucoma in National Health Service Hospital Trusts in the UK. Journal of
medical economics, 1-7.
Stephenson, M., Mcarthur, A., Giles, K., Lockwood, C., Aromataris, E., & Pearson, A.
(2015). Prevention of falls in acute hospital settings: a multi-site audit and best
practice implementation project. International Journal for Quality in Health
Care, 28(1), 92-98.