Fall Prevention

The occupational therapist considers the physical and psychosocial/behavioral health needs of clients. Some of the areas a community based occupational therapist can provide would be Activities of Daily Living to include dress through the use of adaptive equipment, modified techniques, energy conservation, proper mechanics and energy conservation to name a few. Other areas for ADL retraining would include use of specialized or adaptive equipment to maximize safety. This will be done when while incorporating fall prevention strategies to foster awareness of safety and limitations in the

Literature Review Some of the databases that were searched for information about my PICOT questions were not directly related to patients in long-term care facilities. The Databases that were searched included CINAHL, National Guideline Clearing House, Ovid, and EBSCO, articles related to my PICOT was found on National Guideline Clearing House and Ovid. Some of the key words that were used during the search were Hendrich II fall risk tool, fall in Long-term care facilities, Geriatric falls, fall prevention and predicting fall. National Guideline Clearing (www.guideline.gov) produced about ten results directly related to the content in the PICOT question and CINAHL had thirty nine results.

Falls of critically ill patients admitted to the ICU routine should be avoided developing certain strategies used outside this area, such as prevention of displacement, promote stability, elimination of sliding hazards routinely ensure that the patient is oriented to the environment and the bell is at the fingertips, keeping the beds in the lowest position and braking, providing adequate lighting, and provide anti-slip footwear and technical assistance in lifting patients bed. The response time of the call prolonged ringing patient or family is just one of the potential causes of falls, firstly because if the response time is greater serve their needs later, and partly because no response to the patient may start feeling agitated. Shift schedules nurses can be particularly effective in preventing falls, as they allow the staff to anticipate and address the needs of each patient. The tubing, drains and cables must be securely to prevent tripping when lifting or embody patients. Although falls can happen without warning, subsequent falls can be avoided if the etiology of them is

The necessity to reduce patient falls is the trigger in this circumstance. This is a knowledge- focused trigger since the purpose is to implement a practice that has been shown to prevent falls. The next step is establishing if the issue is a top priority for the clinic, division, or section. Patients should be a top priority in any acute care facility, as they can result in catastrophic injuries and even death (Cullen et al., 2022).

The policy and procedure to be examined presents guidelines for both preventing and documenting falls in an acute care setting. This policy is to be used daily and with every patient in a hospital setting.

This act created a major revision of standards of care for nursing homes. This legislation also changed the expectations and the quality of care that patients should receive in long term care facilities. This Nursing Home Reform Act passed by congress specifically stated “that each residents have the right to be free from any physical or chemical restraints imposed for purposes of discipline or convenience and not required to treat the resident’s medical symptoms”. While there may be some benefits to using restraints in nursing homes, however, studies have shown that using restraints in nursing homes negatively impacts patients and for the most part does not prevent them from falling or from other incidents that may occur. There are very high levels of risks associated with the use of restraints (Lapane,150).

(Joint Commissions, 2014).It is important for nurses to explain how to use the call light to the elderly patients, and also to ask for help before getting out of bed. Vulnerable patients should be placed close to the nursing station for close monitoring. It is very important to educate health care workers on the approaches used to prevent falls. The measures used to prevent falls in the elderly could include; carrying out a risk assessment during admission, placing colorful stickers outside their doors, stopping the use of psychotropic medications, teaching them the best way to use their assistive device, placing their call light and belonging within their reach, placing their beds in the lowest position with brakes /wheels locked at all times, removing throw rugs from their surroundings, making sure that they are wearing non-skid shoes/socks before ambulating and also giving them their prescribed Vitamin D supplement as well as encouraging them on the use of their corrective glasses or hearing aids. It is very important to educate health care workers on the approaches used to prevent

It also provided the use of critical thinking and clinical judgment on how to prevent falls, support, and be accountable for a client professionally. The practical knowledge I have learned helped me become aware of assessing and assisting a client. As a nurse, our job is to provide “safe, compassionate, competent and ethical care” (p.8) and collaborate as an interprofessional team to deliver safe care and prevent risks from happening while offering quality nursing care (CNA, 2017). I will always provide the professional care under the code of ethics to promote health and wellness for an older adult and prevent risks from happening. As well as following the plan of care, use communication strategies, be aware, acknowledge, and accommodate individuals with different diseases such as with dementia, to promote fall prevention strategies (RNAO, 2017).

References Bilik, O., Damar, H. T., & Karayurt, O. (2017). Fall behaviors and risk factors among elderly patients with hip fractures. Acta Paulista De Enfermagem, 30(4), 420-427. doi:10.1590/1982-0194201700062 Nicholas, J., & Wiseman, M. (2009). ELDERLY POVERTY AND SUPPLEMENTAL SECURITY INCOME.

This helps your balance and agility, and can help prevent falls at older

This program, called the Nijmegen Falls Prevention Program, included one hundred thirteen elderly clients with a history of falls. Exercise sessions were held twice a week for five weeks with fall monitoring done before and after the experiment. Control assessments were also done continuously thru the study to determine client changes in standing balance, balance confidence, and obstacle avoidance skills. The results of the Nijmegen Falls Prevention Program showed that the number of falls within the exercise group dropped by a significant forty six percent! Not only less falls, but obstacle avoidance skills dramatically improved as did balance

CASE: Mrs Tan, 80 year old Chinese lady admitted to hospital post fall- was found on the bathroom floor and was unable to get up. Before falling, she attempted to get up from toilet bowl after passing motion but her knees buckles after one to two steps. There was no loss of consciousness. As she was unable to get up and did not have a pendent-alarm, she had to wait four hours before daughter come home from work. Ambulance was called and she was brought to accident and emergency unit.

The incident happened because of lack of attention given to patient. We manage to mobilized her to the chair and reassured her. We also follow the standard procedure of patient’s fall which is to check on her vital sign and physical for any post trauma injury. The Department of Health Western Australia (2015) listed that checking the potential injury and the vital sign was the Immediate post-fall procedures that all nurses accounted to.

I will also discuss on how this clinical situation could be done differently. Clinical scenario I was posted to a medical ward in National University Hospital for my clinical posting. There is a particular cubicle allocated for patients with very high risk of fall called the “Green eye cubicle “. Patients in that cubicle are usually confused or not compliant to fall precaution.

For example, in the elderly population are at an increased risk of falling from a variety of reasons.