FALL PREVENTION

EDUCATION
Authors: Heidi Rankhorn, Laura Stamper, Esther Ayeni, Alissy Heisey

Total Falls Data


Fall Risk Data

One out of five falls cause a serious injury such as broken bones or a head injury.
More than 95% of hip fractures are caused by falling, usually by falling sideways.
Falls are the most common cause of traumatic brain injuries (TBI).
1,800 older adults living in nursing homes die each year from fall-related injuries.
Every 20 minutes an older adult dies from a fall in the US.
Each year, a typical nursing home with 100 beds reports 100 to 200 falls. Many falls
go unreported.
About 35% of fall injuries occur among residents who cannot walk.

Role of the BSN

Physical Assessment
Environment Hazards
Patient Safety
Nurses response to patient

Physical Assessment
Vision & Hearing assessment
Mini mental status tool
TUG test
STEADI protocol

Environment Hazards
bed height
obstructive pathways
slippery surfaces
Insufficient lighting
stairs
insufficient handrails contribute to falls.
The CDC reports that environmental hazards in nursing homes cause 16% to 27%
of falls among residents (CDC, 2015).

Patient Safety
Footwear and proper use of assistive devices are very important to reduce fall risks.
No-slip socks need to be worn by all patients at night.
Patients that use walkers, canes, or other assistive devices should be checked to
make sure that their assistive device is properly fitted and in good working order.
The patients need to be re-educated on proper usage of their assistive device, and
monitored to be sure that they are correctly using their equipment.

Patient Safety
Fall Risk proper identification
arm bands and room signs
Bed alarms
Call light in patient reach
Call light answered within 5 minutes

Evidence Based Practice

The goal of the facility should be to answer each call light within five minutes.
An exploratory study in four US hospitals using archived hospital data found
evidence that faster call light response time was associated with lower total fall and
injurious fall rates (Tzeng, H., Titler, M. G., Ronis, D. L., & Yin, C., 2012).
The study went on to say that, monitoring call light response time on a regular
basis is recommended and could be incorporated into evidence-based practice
guidelines for fall prevention. (Tzeng, H., Titler, M. G., Ronis, D. L., & Yin, C., 2012).

Evidence Based Prevention

CDC STEADI Fall Prevention checklist
http://www.cdc.gov/steadi/pdf/fall_risk_checklist-a.pdf
Morse Fall Scale
http://www.networkofcare.org/library/Morse%20Fall%20Scale.pdf
TUG test
http://www.cdc.gov/steadi/pdf/tug_test-a.pdf
Answering patient call lights within 5 minutes

Summary
Evaluation
Evaluate monthly goals
Identify rooms for improvement
Display achievement of goals
No fall days"