Date

Fall 2023

Document Type

Scholarly Project

Department

College of Nursing

First Advisor

Eboni Harris

Abstract

Problem Statement: Older people in hospitals may face a greater risk of falls due to the use of medication, lower body weakness, and some difficulty with balance and walking. Over the past five years, there has been a steady increase in the prevalence of falls with the targeted unit reporting over 5 falls per 1000 patient days, which is higher than the national average. Purpose: The purpose of this project was to decrease falls and decrease falls with injuries in this patient population. Methods: The project employed a pre-post intervention design that measured fall incidence in the targeted unit after the implementation of a validated fall prevention toolkit based on the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) fall prevention toolkit. Data sourced from the clinical systems were used to determine whether the use of the toolkit led to an improvement in the incidence of falls. Inclusion Criteria: Inpatient falls, and the patient should be at least 65 years of age. Analysis: There was a clinically significant drop in the rate of falls from 4.30 falls per 1000 bed days before the implementation of the toolkit to only 2.05 falls per 1000 bed days after the implementation of the intervention. However, the test for proportion revealed that the change in the fall rate was not statistically significant. Implications for Practice: The use of the AHRQ fall prevention toolkit or strategies based on this toolkit may contribute to lowering the incidence of falls among elderly patients. The acute care facility should consider integrating the toolkit into practice guidelines to ensure that the observed improvements in fall rates are sustained.

Rights

© 2023, Shantai D Allen

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Available for download on Tuesday, December 31, 2024

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