Falls Management and Prevention

Falls Management and Prevention
Name
Institutional Affiliation
Falls Management and Prevention
Patient Population and Clinical Issues
Falls and injuries among inpatients in medical-surgical facilities are a serious health concern because they interfere with the recovery of patients and increase the cost of healthcare. For every 1000 patients in medical-surgical units in the U.S., up to seven falls are reported daily (Cuttler et al., 2017). According to Cuttler et al (2017), patients in acute care facilities are particularly vulnerable to falls because some surgical procedures alter mobility, medications may cause side effects, and patients experience frequent toileting. To reduce the incidents of falls in adult inpatient surgical units in Highland Hospital, the hospital management should consider nursing interventions that have been proven to be effective. The fact that Highland Hospital has surgical units across three critical areas (bariatric surgery, general surgery, and neurosurgery) makes it very important for the management to consider an effective nursing intervention to manage falls and injuries.
The PICO question: In adult inpatients in medical-surgical units at Highland Hospital, how effective is nursing rounds intervention compared to the absence of the intervention in controlling the number, the rates, and the costs of falls during the recovery period?
Intervention: The proposed intervention involves structured nursing rounds in which nurses across two out of the four surgical units will be trained through a short course of one month on the importance of purposeful rounds in mitigating the risk of falls. Once the nurses appreciate the concept of nursing rounds intervention, they will be guided by the schedules that will be placed on whiteboards on the rooms of patients. The purpose of the rounds is to provide toileting assistance, talk with patients about their comfort and position, and ensure that patients’ personal items are within reach. According to the Institute for Clinical Systems Improvement (ICSI), communicating with patients about risk factors, doing surveillance, and auditing falls incidents can eliminate or prevent falls (Degelau et al., 2012). These findings are supported by Ireland et al (2013) who emphasized the importance of quality improvement. Further, Tucker et al (2011) found that fall rates in inpatient surgical units reduced after the implementation of nursing rounds. The proposed intervention is fu...