GERIATRIC FALLS: Prevention Strategies for the Staff

Abstract

1. Multiple falls and injuries are more prevalent among elderly over the age of 75 and are the second leading cause of accidental death in the elderly. The risk for falling is noted to be significantly greater in the hospitalized elderly. 2. Review of retrospective quality improvement chart audits revealed that peak fall times were associated with the patient's need for toileting, rest, and obtaining nutrition and hydration. 3. The MetroHealth Falls Prevention Program is based on simple proactive measures to prevent falls in the elderly. 4. An effective falls prevention program has several implications for gerontological nursing practice, including less restraint use, increased patient autonomy, and decreased loss of self-esteem. There is also a sense of increased nursing control over patient safety and time management, as well as implications for further nursing research.

Do Hospital Fall Prevention Programs Work? A Systematic Review

“…The care plans and precise interventions are not always adequately described in the papers. In one case, 74 a significant association was found between incidence of falls and time of day, leading to a concentration of effort at times of highest risk.…”

“…The prospective study with parallel control and the prospective studies with historical controls provided enough information to allow the calculation of rate ratios and confidence intervals. There were a further 10 prospective studies with historical controls where only fall rates were described, 74–84 but these could not be subjected to meta‐analysis. There was a tendency for the most rigorously controlled trials to produce the smallest effects, with the most powerful effects being for uncontrolled trials where only fall rates were described (Figure 1).…”

Household-shoe wearing and purchasing habits. A survey of people aged 65 years and older

“…1, 2 Appropriate footwear can help people maintain mobility, independence, freedom from pain, and general well-being, [1][2][3][4][5][6] whereas inappropriate shoes may deprive elderly people of mobility and contribute to foot problems 7-10 and falls. [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19] In a study of 107 people (88 women; mean age, 77 years) who had been admitted to a hospital after fracturing the neck of the femur, it was found that slippers were worn at the time of the fall in over 30% of cases. [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19] In a study of 107 people (88 women; mean age, 77 years) who had been admitted to a hospital after fracturing the neck of the femur, it was found that slippers were worn at the time of the fall in over 30% of cases.…”

Rehabilitation Nurses Working as Collaborative Research Teams

“…Credit was divided among the researchers. The nursing professor took the lead in writing the results of the project (Turkoski et al, 1997) and a nurse manager (see Table 1) took first-author responsibility for writing the manuscript that precipitated this research (Brady et al, 1993). All members of the team are listed in the authorship of both manuscripts, because all participated in writing sections of the papers.…”