Policy Discussion Board Week 7
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Medicine
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Dec 6, 2023
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Uploaded by MattM5
Policy Discussion Board Week 7
Patient Falls Week 7
I decided to read about patient falls this week because falls have always been a significant
problem in the hospital. It is a recurring problem which every nurse must be mindful of when
taking care of patients. The first major difference between the two studies is the size of the
hospitals. The Memorial Hermann Texas Medical Center is a 594 bed hospital consisting of
many acute care units and the other is the Rush Copley Medical Center with 183 beds consisting
of a cancer care center, medical/surgical pediatric unit, and rehabilitation center. The process at
Memorial Hermann Texas Medical Center is much like the hospitals I have been in. They utilized
a fall assessment tool in order to gage the likelihood of a fall, and then implement interventions if
a high score is achieved. This hospital utilized the Morse Fall Scale. Rush Copley Medical
Center utilized the FOCUS-PDSA process. I was unfamiliar with this process, but it utilized
many of the same interventions as Memorial Hermann. I think early identification is key here
because falls at this hospital were between 10-18%. This is much too high. I believe with hourly
rounding and assistance with ambulation in the bathroom. Hourly rounding keeps nurses on top
of their patient load. In a case study by the Journal of the American Medical Directors
Association hourly rounding reduced falls (Linehan, 2018). Staff adherence to hourly rounding
increased with increased staff. With a larger hospital like Memorial Hermann Texas Center, even
with an increased number of beds falls should be lower with the introduction of hourly rounding
because of the increased staff. Even in a hospital with 183 beds there could be decreased in falls
with the utilization of hourly rounding if staff are compliant. Please let me know what you think
the best fall prevention strategy is. What assessment tool do they use in your hospitals?
References
Linehan, J., & Linehan, J. (2018). Fall Prevention in Long Term Care Using Purposeful Hourly
Rounding.
Journal of the American Medical Directors Association
, 19(3).
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jamda.2017.12.056
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