Managing Falls

BACKGROUND: All healthcare institutions prioritize falls as a major safety issue. Falls are of particular concern on inpatient oncology units where patients are substantially at risk for injury related to falls.OBJECTIVES: This article describes a multifaceted fall-prevention initiative that can be...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inClinical journal of oncology nursing Vol. 25; no. 2; pp. 188 - 193
Main Authors Harden, Karen Lyse, Wall, Paula, Galunas, Laura, Eastman, Debra J, Frederick, Thomas S
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Pittsburgh Oncology Nursing Society 01.04.2021
Subjects
Accident prevention
Cancer
Communication
Education
Falls
Initiatives
Inpatient care
Intervention
Literature reviews
Nurses
Nursing
Oncology
Patient safety
Patient satisfaction
Prevention
Michigan
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Summary:BACKGROUND: All healthcare institutions prioritize falls as a major safety issue. Falls are of particular concern on inpatient oncology units where patients are substantially at risk for injury related to falls.OBJECTIVES: This article describes a multifaceted fall-prevention initiative that can be implemented on oncology units using evidence-based interventions in the key areas of communication, toileting, and hourly rounding. The Visual Rounding Tool for communication around hourly rounding and proactive toileting is also introduced.METHODS: Based on a root cause analysis and literature review, the inpatient oncology unit-based committee launched a three-intervention initiative, carried out during three consecutive months, to address patient falls.FINDINGS: Fall rates decreased using the three intervention initiative. Systematic improvement in processes enabled an increased occurrence of communication between nurses and assistive personnel, increased use of the Visual Rounding Tool for proactive toileting and hourly rounding, and a significant but short-lived decrease in call light use.
ISSN:1092-1095
1538-067X
DOI:10.1188/21.CJON.188-193