Effects Of Fall On The Elderly Population In Hospital Setting And Ways Of Reducing Them

Effects of fall on the elderly population in hospital setting and ways of reducing them
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The problem,issue,suggestion,initiative,or educational need that will be the focus of the project
Patient falls have become common in hospital and in most cases there have been legal liabilities, prolonged hospitalization and unwarranted injuries which could have been avoided. These are only some of the negative outcomes from patient falls there are many more and it is for this reason that most hospitals are embarking on prevention programs that have been implemented since the last decade.
The setting or context in which the problem can be observed
This patient fall problem can be observed in a hospital setting in order to examine the patient fall rate and the effect of the intervention programs implemented in hospitals. The idea hospital of consideration will be a hospital with more than a hundred bed urban public hospital. The population that will be considered will be adult patients, hospitalized in various departments such as surgery, internal medicine and geriatrics.
A description providing a high level detail regarding the problem
There has been research conducted to establish the patient fall in hospitals and the effect resulting from such falls. Administrative data on the fall incidences on patients between the year 1999 to 2003 have indicated that injuries resulting to fall among patients have become a considerable challenge across the world. The most affected population was aged sixty five years and above and in some instances the unintentional falls led to fatal injuries. According to Williams and Thomas(2014), more than thirty two percent of community dwelling patient’s over the age of sixty five years fall each year, the report further notes that females fall more frequently than males.
Impact of the problem, suggestion, initiative, or educational need on the work environment
Patient falls are expensive and dangerous, the fall related injuries account to more than fifteen percent of readmissions and this is especially in the first month of hospitalization. The estimated costs for the nonfatal fall injuries is at $19 billion. There is trauma that is related to these falls and have an effect on the health of patients. The patients that experience hospital falls especially around the hip fracture are believed to reduce their life expectancy by around 10-15%.The elderly are also embarrassed from falls and can make them reserved because they fear experiencing similar embarrassments while socializing.
The quality care provided by staff and the patient outcomes
The duty of any medical professional is providing quality health care and there are a number of int...