Preventing Inpatient Falls Using a Patient Centered Fall Prevention Toolkit

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this quality improvement project was to evaluate an educational PowerPoint session describing the Fall T.I.P.S. Patient-Centered Fall Prevention Toolkit as an effective evidence-based method to increase patient knowledge of fall risk and clearly communicates the mobility needs of the patient in the acute care hospital. Background: Falls account for 70% of all hospital accidents and are the leading cause of injury and death by injury in adults over the age of 65. There is a significant increase in financial costs, including an increase in tests to confirm an injury, treatment of the injury, and longer lengths of stay. Despite the numerous studies on the importance of fall prevention programs, standards of care on fall prevention strategies vary between different healthcare organizations, guidelines are inconsistently implemented, and the incidence of falls remains high in hospitalized patients Methods: This quality improvement project included a group of 10 volunteer patients from the UA TLC who were 65 years old or older. The Ottawa Model of Research Use guided the development, implementation, and evaluation of the educational PowerPoint session by using a quantitative design with a pretest and posttest format. A Zoom meeting format was utilized to implement this project where the participants were asked to use a link in the chat box to anonymously complete the surveys. Results: Data collection took place prior to the educational PowerPoint session and immediately following, with all 10 participants completing both pretest and posttest surveys. There was an increase in the knowledge of what places someone at risk for falls while in the acute care hospital. Conclusion: This quality improvement project helped to increase knowledge of best practices and thereby has the potential to improve patient outcomes. Educating patients on the risk of falls and communicating the mobility needs of the patient to all members of the health care team including the patients and their family members is key to reducing the risk of inpatient falls.