Falls Amongst Elderly People Aged 65 or Older Living in Long-term Care Facilities

Falls Prevention
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Abstract
This study recognizes that elderly patients living in long-term care facilities are still likely to endure challenges related to falls. The study aims at pointing out the likelihood of falls amongst elderly people aged 65 or older living in long-term care facilities, and the likely outcome of the implementation of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Morse Fall Risk scale compared to current practices on the fall rate over an eight-week period. The nursing model theory identified for the project is King’s Theory of Goal Attainment. The study identified elderly adults of 65 years or older living in long-term care facilities. The intervention strategy is the independent variable and the number of falls is the dependent variable. The data analysis will be conducted using regression analyses. The study will also offer recommendations based on the positive outcome of implementing the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Morse Fall Risk scale in accordance with the Theory of Goal Attainment.
Case Report Background
Conflicting definitions of functional status provided by various professions make it difficult to establish a coherent definition. The lens through which one examines functional status has a significant impact on how it is characterized and assessed. Differentiating which aspects of functional ability are essential to nursing practice and proving the ways in which nurses may impact clients' functional statuses are two of nursing's problems. A party's capacity to partake in activities of daily life, for instance, feeding, showering, going to the toilet, mobility, and dressing, is the measure of functionality in several disciplines. With this perspective, physical capacities are directly related to functional status, as mediated by a disease's impacts on sensory processes like vision and touch. The social, cognitive, psychological, and spiritual aspects are often included in more complete interpretations of functional status.
Problem Statement
Patients unable to live independently because of chronic sickness, accident, or age advancement are cared for in long-term care institutions. Due to a variety of medical illnesses, generalized weakness, and a lack of awareness of their physical limitations, this population is already at a high risk of falling. According to estimates by The National Center for Patient Safety (2020), long-term care facilities have a national average fall rate of 2.74 to 5.48 falls in every 1000 patient days. In about 30 to 50 percent of inpatient falls, there is an injury that need care (The Joint Commission, 2019). A fall that causes an injury might have a negative impact on a patient's recovery. Lacerations, abrasions, fractures, and cerebral bleeding are some of the injuries caused by falls. (Burnett et al., 2018). The costs of treating falls-related injuries total $31 billion dollars each year. A hospitalization for a fall-related injury costs around $30,000 on average (CDC, 2019). According to The Joint Commission, mortality rates following a fall injury might be as high as 20-30 percent (2015). According to the CDC (2019), 20 percent of fatal falls occur in long-term car...