Titler’s work focuses on improving care for older adults in areas such as pain management, cancer care, heart failure, and fall prevention. Her INQRI-funded research with Gary Rosenthal investigated links between level of professional nursing practice and adoption of evidence-base practices, fall prevalence, and injury from falls. The study was titled: “Impact of System-Centered Factors, and Processes of Nursing Care on Fall Prevalence and Injuries from Falls.”
Showing posts with label falls. Show all posts
Showing posts with label falls. Show all posts
Friday, October 30, 2015
Former INQRI Grantee Elected to National Academy of Medicine
Marita Titler, a professor and chair of the Department of Systems, Populations, and Leadership at the University of Michigan, School of Nursing, has been elected to the prestigious National Academy of Medicine.
Titler’s work focuses on improving care for older adults in areas such as pain management, cancer care, heart failure, and fall prevention. Her INQRI-funded research with Gary Rosenthal investigated links between level of professional nursing practice and adoption of evidence-base practices, fall prevalence, and injury from falls. The study was titled: “Impact of System-Centered Factors, and Processes of Nursing Care on Fall Prevalence and Injuries from Falls.”
Titler’s work focuses on improving care for older adults in areas such as pain management, cancer care, heart failure, and fall prevention. Her INQRI-funded research with Gary Rosenthal investigated links between level of professional nursing practice and adoption of evidence-base practices, fall prevalence, and injury from falls. The study was titled: “Impact of System-Centered Factors, and Processes of Nursing Care on Fall Prevalence and Injuries from Falls.”
Thursday, May 21, 2015
Rehab Nurses Lead Multidisciplinary Efforts in Fall Prevention
At hospitals around the country rehab nurses are playing an essential role in reducing fall risk by educating their colleagues, in addition to their patients, according to an Advanced Healthcare Network for Nurses article.
At the Chicago-based Schwab Rehabilitation Hospital, nurses provide fall risk education to patients who also undergo a fall risk assessment at the time of admission. Schwab also uses stoplight model signs to identify the level of fall risk (green for low; yellow for moderate; and red for high) attached to patients’ beds and wheelchairs.
Additionally, rehab nurses at Schwab meet with hospital staff in other departments, including therapy, dietary, and environmental services, to educate them on the importance of notifying a nurse when a patient is at risk of falling. As a result of these efforts, Schwab has reduced their fall rate from 7.86 to 3.9 per 1,000 patient days over the course of a year.
INQRI grantees Patti Dykes and Blackford Middleton created a tool designed to prevent patient falls by translating an individual patient's fall risk assessment into a decision support intervention that communicates fall risk status, and creates a tailored plan that is accessible to care team members (including patients and family members).
The team constructed the Fall Prevention Toolkit (FPTK), and conducted a randomized controlled trial to examine whether the FPTK led to a decrease in the incidence of patient falls and a decrease in the incidence of patient falls with injury. The use of their toolkit did significantly lower the incidence of falls in the intervention units and several units wished to continue using the tool after the conclusion of the study. By establishing links between nursing fall risk assessment, risk communication and tailored interventions to prevent falls, Dykes and Middleton hope to raise awareness of fall risks for patients, nurses and other providers and to lower mortality and morbidity for potential fall victims.
At the Chicago-based Schwab Rehabilitation Hospital, nurses provide fall risk education to patients who also undergo a fall risk assessment at the time of admission. Schwab also uses stoplight model signs to identify the level of fall risk (green for low; yellow for moderate; and red for high) attached to patients’ beds and wheelchairs.
Additionally, rehab nurses at Schwab meet with hospital staff in other departments, including therapy, dietary, and environmental services, to educate them on the importance of notifying a nurse when a patient is at risk of falling. As a result of these efforts, Schwab has reduced their fall rate from 7.86 to 3.9 per 1,000 patient days over the course of a year.
INQRI grantees Patti Dykes and Blackford Middleton created a tool designed to prevent patient falls by translating an individual patient's fall risk assessment into a decision support intervention that communicates fall risk status, and creates a tailored plan that is accessible to care team members (including patients and family members).
The team constructed the Fall Prevention Toolkit (FPTK), and conducted a randomized controlled trial to examine whether the FPTK led to a decrease in the incidence of patient falls and a decrease in the incidence of patient falls with injury. The use of their toolkit did significantly lower the incidence of falls in the intervention units and several units wished to continue using the tool after the conclusion of the study. By establishing links between nursing fall risk assessment, risk communication and tailored interventions to prevent falls, Dykes and Middleton hope to raise awareness of fall risks for patients, nurses and other providers and to lower mortality and morbidity for potential fall victims.
Friday, April 10, 2015
Special Flooring Could Reduce Fall Injuries Among Patients
Impact-absorbing flooring reduced fall injuries by nearly 60 percent in a new study of women in Swedish nursing homes, reports Reuters Health.
Researchers for the study, which is published in the journal Injury Prevention, collected fall and injury data from a nursing home in Sweden with 60 apartments. Six of the apartments were fitted with 12-millimeter flexible impact absorbing tiles.
During the three-year research period, 57 female nursing home residents participated in the study, with 39 falling at least once. Injuries resulted 30 percent of the time on regular flooring, but only 17 percent of the time with the special flooring. Although falls seemed to occur more often on the special flooring, researchers told Reuters Health that nursing home staff may have moved patients at greater risk for falling into the softer flooring areas. The study did not include bathrooms, where patients frequently fall.
INQRI grantees Patti Dykes and Blackford Middleton created a tool designed to prevent patient falls by translating an individual patient's fall risk assessment into a decision support intervention that communicates fall risk status, and creates a tailored plan that is accessible to care team members (including patients and family members).
The team constructed the Fall Prevention Toolkit (FPTK), and conducted a randomized controlled trial to examine whether the FPTK led to a decrease in the incidence of patient falls and a decrease in the incidence of patient falls with injury. The use of their toolkit did significantly lower the incidence of falls in the intervention units and several units wished to continue using the tool after the conclusion of the study. By establishing links between nursing fall risk assessment, risk communication and tailored interventions to prevent falls, Dykes and Middleton hope to raise awareness of fall risks for patients, nurses and other providers and to lower mortality and morbidity for potential fall victims.
Researchers for the study, which is published in the journal Injury Prevention, collected fall and injury data from a nursing home in Sweden with 60 apartments. Six of the apartments were fitted with 12-millimeter flexible impact absorbing tiles.
During the three-year research period, 57 female nursing home residents participated in the study, with 39 falling at least once. Injuries resulted 30 percent of the time on regular flooring, but only 17 percent of the time with the special flooring. Although falls seemed to occur more often on the special flooring, researchers told Reuters Health that nursing home staff may have moved patients at greater risk for falling into the softer flooring areas. The study did not include bathrooms, where patients frequently fall.
INQRI grantees Patti Dykes and Blackford Middleton created a tool designed to prevent patient falls by translating an individual patient's fall risk assessment into a decision support intervention that communicates fall risk status, and creates a tailored plan that is accessible to care team members (including patients and family members).
The team constructed the Fall Prevention Toolkit (FPTK), and conducted a randomized controlled trial to examine whether the FPTK led to a decrease in the incidence of patient falls and a decrease in the incidence of patient falls with injury. The use of their toolkit did significantly lower the incidence of falls in the intervention units and several units wished to continue using the tool after the conclusion of the study. By establishing links between nursing fall risk assessment, risk communication and tailored interventions to prevent falls, Dykes and Middleton hope to raise awareness of fall risks for patients, nurses and other providers and to lower mortality and morbidity for potential fall victims.
Monday, June 9, 2014
Nurses Lead Fall Prevention Trials for NIH/PCORI and NC Initiatives
The National Institutes of Health and the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) are launching a new study to prevent fall-related injuries that utilizes “fall care managers,” typically nurses or nurse practitioners, who will evaluate patients’ risk and create individualized plans to avoid falls, Bloomberg’s Businessweek reports.
The study will track 6,000 elderly patients at risk for falling at 80 clinics. At half of the clinics the “fall care managers” will tailor specific interventions to patients’ needs, while patients at the other 40 clinics will continue to receive standard treatment. The fall care managers will take a more custom approach to each patient, such as adjusting medication to decrease dizziness, encouraging physical therapy to improve balance, or prescribing new glasses to improve vision. Funding for the five-year trial is provided by PCORI under the Affordable Care Act.
In related news, New Hanover Regional Medical Center in Wilmington, North Carolina found success with a similar nurse-led approach to preventing patient falls, Fierce HealthCare reports.
New Hanover formed a patient safety services fall team to examine the underlying causes of falls and develop a system to prevent them. The team found that many patients fell while trying to reach the bathroom, because they were medicated or disoriented and had physical impairments. As a result, nurses at New Hanover now check on patients every hour and try to anticipate bathroom visits. They also administer medication at strategic times, so that patients are more likely to sleep through the night. Other preventative measures include visual markers that highlight high-risk patients and having patients sign a "fall prevention partnership" agreement with nursing staff. These and other measures led to a fall decrease of 22 percent estimated and a savings of more than $500,000, according to a New Hanover blog post.
INQRI grantees Patti Dykes and Blackford Middleton created a tool designed to prevent patient falls by translating an individual patient's fall risk assessment into a decision support intervention that communicates fall risk status, and creates a tailored plan that is accessible to care team members (including patients and family members).
The team constructed the Fall Prevention Toolkit (FPTK), and conducted a randomized controlled trial to examine whether the FPTK led to a decrease in the incidence of patient falls and a decrease in the incidence of patient falls with injury. The use of their toolkit did significantly lower the incidence of falls in the intervention units and several units wished to continue using the tool after the conclusion of the study. By establishing links between nursing fall risk assessment, risk communication and tailored interventions to prevent falls, Dykes and Middleton hope to raise awareness of fall risks for patients, nurses and other providers and to lower mortality and morbidity for potential fall victims.
The study will track 6,000 elderly patients at risk for falling at 80 clinics. At half of the clinics the “fall care managers” will tailor specific interventions to patients’ needs, while patients at the other 40 clinics will continue to receive standard treatment. The fall care managers will take a more custom approach to each patient, such as adjusting medication to decrease dizziness, encouraging physical therapy to improve balance, or prescribing new glasses to improve vision. Funding for the five-year trial is provided by PCORI under the Affordable Care Act.
In related news, New Hanover Regional Medical Center in Wilmington, North Carolina found success with a similar nurse-led approach to preventing patient falls, Fierce HealthCare reports.
New Hanover formed a patient safety services fall team to examine the underlying causes of falls and develop a system to prevent them. The team found that many patients fell while trying to reach the bathroom, because they were medicated or disoriented and had physical impairments. As a result, nurses at New Hanover now check on patients every hour and try to anticipate bathroom visits. They also administer medication at strategic times, so that patients are more likely to sleep through the night. Other preventative measures include visual markers that highlight high-risk patients and having patients sign a "fall prevention partnership" agreement with nursing staff. These and other measures led to a fall decrease of 22 percent estimated and a savings of more than $500,000, according to a New Hanover blog post.
INQRI grantees Patti Dykes and Blackford Middleton created a tool designed to prevent patient falls by translating an individual patient's fall risk assessment into a decision support intervention that communicates fall risk status, and creates a tailored plan that is accessible to care team members (including patients and family members).
The team constructed the Fall Prevention Toolkit (FPTK), and conducted a randomized controlled trial to examine whether the FPTK led to a decrease in the incidence of patient falls and a decrease in the incidence of patient falls with injury. The use of their toolkit did significantly lower the incidence of falls in the intervention units and several units wished to continue using the tool after the conclusion of the study. By establishing links between nursing fall risk assessment, risk communication and tailored interventions to prevent falls, Dykes and Middleton hope to raise awareness of fall risks for patients, nurses and other providers and to lower mortality and morbidity for potential fall victims.
Thursday, May 8, 2014
Rates of Infections, Falls, Pressure Ulcers, Other Hospital Acquired Conditions Drop
Hospitals saw a nine percent decrease in harms experienced by patients from 2010 to 2012, according to a new report from the U.S. Health and Human Services Department (HHS). There were reductions in adverse drug events, falls, infections, pressure ulcers, and other areas, estimated to have prevented nearly 15,000 deaths and 560,000 cases of patients being harmed in hospitals.
The HHS report also shows that the incidences of hospital-acquired infections dropped from 145 per 1,000 discharges in 2010 to 132 per 1,000 discharges in 2012, resulting in 560,000 few incidents in two years, FierceHealthcare reports. Falls and trauma declined 14.7 percent and pressure ulcers fell 25.2 percent.
In addition to lives saved, the reduction in harm to patients saved $4.1 billion according to the report, which credits factors such as diverse public-private partnerships, active engagement by patients and families, and new tools provided by the Affordable Care Act (ACA), with the improvement. In 2011, under the ACA, HHS launched the Partnership for Patients, a nationwide public private initiative to keep patients from being harmed in hospitals and heal without complication. The Partnership shares best practices with more than 3,700 hospitals enrolled in the initiative.
INQRI grantees have conducted a number of studies into how nurses can lead efforts to reduce medical errors and patient harm, including:
The HHS report also shows that the incidences of hospital-acquired infections dropped from 145 per 1,000 discharges in 2010 to 132 per 1,000 discharges in 2012, resulting in 560,000 few incidents in two years, FierceHealthcare reports. Falls and trauma declined 14.7 percent and pressure ulcers fell 25.2 percent.
In addition to lives saved, the reduction in harm to patients saved $4.1 billion according to the report, which credits factors such as diverse public-private partnerships, active engagement by patients and families, and new tools provided by the Affordable Care Act (ACA), with the improvement. In 2011, under the ACA, HHS launched the Partnership for Patients, a nationwide public private initiative to keep patients from being harmed in hospitals and heal without complication. The Partnership shares best practices with more than 3,700 hospitals enrolled in the initiative.
INQRI grantees have conducted a number of studies into how nurses can lead efforts to reduce medical errors and patient harm, including:
- Reducing central line-associated bloodstream infections was the focus of an INQRI-funded study led by David Thompson and Jill Marsteller. Their study, involving 45 intensive care units in 35 hospitals in 12 states, tested a nurse-led intervention that used a bundle of evidence-based practices to reduce infections. The intervention was successful in significantly reducing infections and also highlighted the importance of promoting a culture of safety and communication. It also established that nurses should play a central role in quality improvement interventions.
- The INQRI funded project “Interdisciplinary Mobility Team Approach to Reduction of Facility-Acquired Pressure Ulcers” developed a sustainable, system-wide program for pressure ulcer prevention that enhances mobility of long-term care (LTC) residents. The primary goal, under nursing's leadership, was to reduce LTC facility-acquired pressure ulcer incidence by 50 percent using a cost-effective innovative program to increase resident active or passive movement. The team, which developed and implemented a program that involved using musical cues to remind residents to move or staff to help residents move, was led by Tracey Yap, a nurse researcher, and Jay Kim, an engineer.
- INQRI grantee Patti Dykes worked with a team to develop the Falls: Tailoring Interventions for Patient Safety (Falls TIPS) online tool kit to educate patients and families about how they can work with nurses and other providers to prevent falls. The toolkit was developed based on the Fall TIP: Validation of Icons to Communicate Fall Risk Status and Tailored Interventions to Prevent Patient Falls study, which involved developing and validating a set of icons designed to communicate fall risk status, and developing tailored interventions to prevent patient falls in hospitals.
Monday, December 16, 2013
Indiana Program Illustrates Potential of Nurse-Led Initiatives
A series of nurse-led initiatives in Indiana improved patient outcomes and is projected to save health care organizations in the state more than $5.2 million. These results demonstrate the importance of increasing nurses’ leadership opportunities, a key recommendation of the Institute of Medicine’s (IOM) landmark “Future of Nursing” report.
The American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) launched the Clinical Scene Investigator (CSI) Academy last year as a team-oriented and hands-on educational experience that placed nurses as clinician leaders. The nurses led initiatives and generated quantifiable improvements in the quality of patient care and hospital finances. Nurse-led initiatives studied in the program helped to:
Media coverage of the AACN findings included Infection Control Today, Nurse.com and Advanced Healthcare Network for Nurses.
INQRI-funded research has focused on nurse-led initiatives in many of these areas, including patient falls, central line-associated bloodstream infections and pressure ulcers.
The American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) launched the Clinical Scene Investigator (CSI) Academy last year as a team-oriented and hands-on educational experience that placed nurses as clinician leaders. The nurses led initiatives and generated quantifiable improvements in the quality of patient care and hospital finances. Nurse-led initiatives studied in the program helped to:
- Improve patient satisfaction by as much as 20 percent;
- Reduce stays in the pediatric intensive care unit (ICU) by 0.5 days;
- Cut incidences of patient falls and hospital-acquired device-related nose and mouth pressure ulcers by more than 50 percent;
- Decrease overall pressure ulcers by more than 60 percent; and
- Drop mechanical ventilation days for ICU patients by 0.44 days.
Media coverage of the AACN findings included Infection Control Today, Nurse.com and Advanced Healthcare Network for Nurses.
INQRI-funded research has focused on nurse-led initiatives in many of these areas, including patient falls, central line-associated bloodstream infections and pressure ulcers.
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
Higher Risk of Head Injuries Due to Falls Among Elderly in Long-Term Care
Seniors who fall while in long-term care facilities are at high risk for traumatic brain injuries, with nearly 40 percent of those who fall striking their heads, according to a study published in the October 7th Canadian Medical Association Journal. Of 227 falls reported at two long-term care facilities in the British Columbia province of Canada from April 2007-June 2010, more than a third (37 percent) involved residents hitting their heads. Twenty out of 59 falls with head impact resulted in a report of head injury.
The study shows that direction of a fall and landing position were significantly associated with likelihood of head impact. When falling, patients tended to twist backward, lowering the risk of head impact. Participants trying to use their hands to stop falls did not significantly lower the likelihood of head impact. To reduce the risk of head injuries, the researchers suggest improved screening for fall risk factors, improved facility design and flooring, and better fall prevention programs, Nurse.com reports.
INQRI grantee Patti Dykes worked with a team to develop the Falls: Tailoring Interventions for Patient Safety (Falls TIPS) online tool kit to educate patients and families about how they can work with nurses and other providers to prevent falls. The toolkit was developed based on the Fall TIP: Validation of Icons to Communicate Fall Risk Status and Tailored Interventions to Prevent Patient Falls study, which involved developing and validating a set of icons designed to communicate fall risk status, and developing tailored interventions to prevent patient falls in hospitals.
The study shows that direction of a fall and landing position were significantly associated with likelihood of head impact. When falling, patients tended to twist backward, lowering the risk of head impact. Participants trying to use their hands to stop falls did not significantly lower the likelihood of head impact. To reduce the risk of head injuries, the researchers suggest improved screening for fall risk factors, improved facility design and flooring, and better fall prevention programs, Nurse.com reports.
INQRI grantee Patti Dykes worked with a team to develop the Falls: Tailoring Interventions for Patient Safety (Falls TIPS) online tool kit to educate patients and families about how they can work with nurses and other providers to prevent falls. The toolkit was developed based on the Fall TIP: Validation of Icons to Communicate Fall Risk Status and Tailored Interventions to Prevent Patient Falls study, which involved developing and validating a set of icons designed to communicate fall risk status, and developing tailored interventions to prevent patient falls in hospitals.
Monday, September 30, 2013
Research Brief: Tailored Plan to Prevent Patient Falls
This week, we present the work of a team led by Patti Dykes and Blackford Middleton which has created a tool designed to prevent patient falls by translating an individual patient's fall risk assessment into a decision support intervention that communicates fall risk status, and creates a tailored plan that is accessible to care team members (including patients and family members). The team constructed the Fall Prevention Toolkit (FPTK), and conducted a randomized controlled trial to examine whether the FPTK led to a decrease in the incidence of patient falls and a decrease in the incidence of patient falls with injury. The use of their toolkit did significantly lower the incidence of falls in the intervention units and several units wished to continue using the tool after the conclusion of the study. By establishing links between nursing fall risk assessment, risk communication and tailored interventions to prevent falls, Dykes and Middleton hope to raise awareness of fall risks for patients, nurses and other providers and to lower mortality and morbidity for potential fall victims.
Access the research brief.
Example of a Fall TIPS Bed Poster
Example of a Fall TIPS Plan of Care
Example of Fall TIPS Patient Instructions
This post is part of a series to provide the public with research briefs on INQRI-funded projects across a range of interests.
Access the research brief.
Example of a Fall TIPS Bed Poster
Example of a Fall TIPS Plan of Care
Example of Fall TIPS Patient Instructions
This post is part of a series to provide the public with research briefs on INQRI-funded projects across a range of interests.
Thursday, June 20, 2013
PCORI and NIA Announce New Partnership on Fall Prevention
The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) recently announced an agreement with the National Institute on Aging (NIA) to form a new partnership that will fund a major intervention study aimed at preventing injuries from falls in older adults. This agreement is the first step in the formation of the "Falls Injuries Prevention Partnership," which is the basis for developing an NIA-PCORI funding announcement for a large-scale, multi-year clinical trial on preventing injurious falls in non-institutionalized older individuals. PCORI plans to commit up to $30 million to this effort, though the final amount is yet to be determined. The
NIA is in the process of developing a Funding Opportunity Announcement that is expected to be finalized in late July; further details will be available at that time. NIA has issued a Request for Information to gather insights from individual stakeholders and organizations involved in the care and well-being of older individuals.
The INQRI program has long been interested in this topic and has funded two recent studies designed to take a personal approach to fall prevention. Led by Patti Dykes, one INQRI team has developed and tested a fall prevention tool kit using health information technology that successfully reduced the number of in-hospital falls among older patients. The tool kit includes a fall risk assessment, a patient-specific prevention plan, a handout for patients and their families and a poster to hang over a patient’s bed. INQRI also funded a team headed by Marita Titler to test fall prevention interventions tailored to patients’ risks for falls. This study involves three Michigan community hospitals which will implement processes to address multiple patient-specific factors that can contribute to and put patients at risk for falls, creating a “targeted risk factor fall prevention bundle” for each patient.
Click here to check out INQRI resources related to falls.
Click here to learn more about the PCORI-NIA partnership.
The INQRI program has long been interested in this topic and has funded two recent studies designed to take a personal approach to fall prevention. Led by Patti Dykes, one INQRI team has developed and tested a fall prevention tool kit using health information technology that successfully reduced the number of in-hospital falls among older patients. The tool kit includes a fall risk assessment, a patient-specific prevention plan, a handout for patients and their families and a poster to hang over a patient’s bed. INQRI also funded a team headed by Marita Titler to test fall prevention interventions tailored to patients’ risks for falls. This study involves three Michigan community hospitals which will implement processes to address multiple patient-specific factors that can contribute to and put patients at risk for falls, creating a “targeted risk factor fall prevention bundle” for each patient.
Click here to check out INQRI resources related to falls.
Click here to learn more about the PCORI-NIA partnership.
Thursday, April 11, 2013
Fall Prevention in a Psychiatric Hospital Requires Creativity
Falls in hospitals can result in serious injuries and setbacks for patients. They're a particular problem for older patients as noted by Patti Dykes, who led the INQRI team that tested a fall prevention tool kit. They're also a problem for psychiatric patients, as an article in Advance for Nurses notes.
The article, by Christine Waszynski, a geriatric nurse practitioner at Hartford Hospital in Connecticut, reports on a fall prevention program being implemented in the psychiatric hospital within Hartford Hospital. Psychiatric patients are encouraged to remain ambulatory and independent to the extent possible during their hospital stays, so any interventions that limit their mobility or require close supervision can have a deleterious effect on their mental health. Moreover, many psychiatric medications can cause dizziness or an unsteady gait.
Waszynski describes the multidisciplinary fall prevention program which includes "post fall huddles" and "mini root cause analysis" after each fall. A Fall Rounding Tool is used to discuss existing fall risks and how they can be mitigated. Patients now wear shower shoes to avoid falls in the shower and shorter pajama pants to avoid tripping. Other strategies include a Fall Prevention Teaching Sheet which is reviewed with each patient upon admission.
Data collected a year prior to inception of the program up until 2012 shows the hospital has made noticeable improvements, decreasing overall number of falls and falls resulting in injury by 25 percent.
The article, by Christine Waszynski, a geriatric nurse practitioner at Hartford Hospital in Connecticut, reports on a fall prevention program being implemented in the psychiatric hospital within Hartford Hospital. Psychiatric patients are encouraged to remain ambulatory and independent to the extent possible during their hospital stays, so any interventions that limit their mobility or require close supervision can have a deleterious effect on their mental health. Moreover, many psychiatric medications can cause dizziness or an unsteady gait.
Waszynski describes the multidisciplinary fall prevention program which includes "post fall huddles" and "mini root cause analysis" after each fall. A Fall Rounding Tool is used to discuss existing fall risks and how they can be mitigated. Patients now wear shower shoes to avoid falls in the shower and shorter pajama pants to avoid tripping. Other strategies include a Fall Prevention Teaching Sheet which is reviewed with each patient upon admission.
Data collected a year prior to inception of the program up until 2012 shows the hospital has made noticeable improvements, decreasing overall number of falls and falls resulting in injury by 25 percent.
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Reflections on INQRI's Work
This video provides an overview of the impact INQRI has had on the delivery of high quality care. Please watch this video to learn more about the type of work INQRI has funded since its inception and comment below with your thoughts.
This post is part of our week-long blog carnival focused on the Medical Care supplement. Click here to access all posts in this carnival.
This post is part of our week-long blog carnival focused on the Medical Care supplement. Click here to access all posts in this carnival.
Monday, March 18, 2013
Webinar: Implementation of a Risk Specific Fall Prevention Bundle to Reduce Falls in Hospitals
If you missed last week's excellent webinar on the implementation of a fall prevention bundle, check it out right here:
Monday, March 11, 2013
TOMORROW: Register for Webinar Now
TOMORROW
Webinar: Moving Beyond Fall Risk Scores: Implementing an Evidence-Based Targeted Risk Factor Fall Prevention Bundle
Accidental falls are the most common reported patient safety incident in hospitals, and beneficial effects of fall reduction interventions increase when interventions are targeted to patient specific risk factors. Yet, few hospitals focus on implementing fall prevention interventions that mitigate patient specific risks for falls. To translate evidence to practice, an INQRI team led by Marita Titler and Paul Conlon conducted a study to implement fall prevention interventions that target patient specific risk factors and evaluate the impact on fall rates, and fall injuries. Please join the team tomorrow as they present their study results.
Mar. 12, 2013, 4:00--5:00 p.m. ET
Click here to register.
Webinar: Moving Beyond Fall Risk Scores: Implementing an Evidence-Based Targeted Risk Factor Fall Prevention Bundle
Accidental falls are the most common reported patient safety incident in hospitals, and beneficial effects of fall reduction interventions increase when interventions are targeted to patient specific risk factors. Yet, few hospitals focus on implementing fall prevention interventions that mitigate patient specific risks for falls. To translate evidence to practice, an INQRI team led by Marita Titler and Paul Conlon conducted a study to implement fall prevention interventions that target patient specific risk factors and evaluate the impact on fall rates, and fall injuries. Please join the team tomorrow as they present their study results.
Mar. 12, 2013, 4:00--5:00 p.m. ET
Click here to register.
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Webinar: Implementation of a Risk Specific Fall Prevention Bundle to Reduce Falls in Hospitals
Accidental falls are the most common reported patient safety incident in hospitals with rates from 2.9 to 13 per 1,000 patient days. Up to 30 percent of falls result in injury including death. Interventions targeted to patients' fall risk factors are necessary to reduce falls but few hospital fall prevention programs have implemented such an approach.
Next week, INQRI grantees Marita Titler, Paul Conlon, and their team will be presenting the results of their 18 month study which was designed to implement fall prevention interventions targeted to patient risk factors and evaluate use of these practices and their impact on reducing falls and fall related injuries.
Please join us to learn more about this exciting work.
Tuesday, March 12, 2013: 4pm-5pmET
Register now.
Next week, INQRI grantees Marita Titler, Paul Conlon, and their team will be presenting the results of their 18 month study which was designed to implement fall prevention interventions targeted to patient risk factors and evaluate use of these practices and their impact on reducing falls and fall related injuries.
Please join us to learn more about this exciting work.
Tuesday, March 12, 2013: 4pm-5pmET
Register now.
Friday, February 15, 2013
INQRI Fall Prevention Toolkit Available
In 2007, an INQRI research team led by Patti Dykes and Blackford Middleton was funded to create a tool designed to prevent patient falls by translating an individual patient's fall risk assessment into a decision support intervention that communicates fall risk status, and creates a tailored plan that is accessible to care team members (including patients and family members) to prevent falls.
With INQRI support, the team constructed the Fall Prevention Toolkit (FPTK), and conducted a randomized controlled trial to examine whether the FPTK led to a decrease in the incidence of patient falls and a decrease in the incidence of patient falls with injury. The use of their toolkit did significantly lower the incidence of falls in the intervention units and several units wished to continue using the tool after the conclusion of the study. By establishing links between nursing fall risk assessment, risk communication and tailored interventions to prevent falls, Dykes and Middleton hope to raise awareness of fall risks for patients, nurses and other providers and to lower mortality and morbidity for potential fall victims. This toolkit is now available.
Click here to access the toolkit.
With INQRI support, the team constructed the Fall Prevention Toolkit (FPTK), and conducted a randomized controlled trial to examine whether the FPTK led to a decrease in the incidence of patient falls and a decrease in the incidence of patient falls with injury. The use of their toolkit did significantly lower the incidence of falls in the intervention units and several units wished to continue using the tool after the conclusion of the study. By establishing links between nursing fall risk assessment, risk communication and tailored interventions to prevent falls, Dykes and Middleton hope to raise awareness of fall risks for patients, nurses and other providers and to lower mortality and morbidity for potential fall victims. This toolkit is now available.
Click here to access the toolkit.
Friday, December 21, 2012
The Continuing Challenges Related to Fall Prevention
A recent blog post on The New York Times health page states that "when it comes to
protecting older people from falls, it can take a long time to figure out what
helps and sometimes an even longer time to take action against things that were
supposed to help but don’t."
Writer Paula Span discusses the challenges associated with safety rails, the way that alarms don't prevent falls, and more.
Take a look at her post and then read up on how INQRI grantees are addressing this critical issue.
Writer Paula Span discusses the challenges associated with safety rails, the way that alarms don't prevent falls, and more.
Take a look at her post and then read up on how INQRI grantees are addressing this critical issue.
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Hospital Efforts To Keep Elderly Strong
Yesterday, Lindsey Tanner, reporting for the Huffington Post, described new initiatives being implemented by hospitals to encourage elderly patients to be more active and improve their quality of life. Ms. Tanner detailed how hospitals are utilizing nurses and volunteers to facilitate simple walking exercises that result in patients being just as healthy when discharged as they were on arrival.
Does this initiative sound familiar to you? It should!
Previous INQRI grantee Dr. Barbara Resnick focused her INQRI supported research efforts on Function Focused Care in assisted living communities that resulted in improved well-being for geriatric participants, in addition to improving the culture of safety for staff at the facilities that implemented the program.
Click here to read the HuffPost article.
Click here to read more about Dr. Resnick's work, including a video of a recent lecture she presented at the University of Pennsylvania's Institute of Aging.
Does this initiative sound familiar to you? It should!
Previous INQRI grantee Dr. Barbara Resnick focused her INQRI supported research efforts on Function Focused Care in assisted living communities that resulted in improved well-being for geriatric participants, in addition to improving the culture of safety for staff at the facilities that implemented the program.
Click here to read the HuffPost article.
Click here to read more about Dr. Resnick's work, including a video of a recent lecture she presented at the University of Pennsylvania's Institute of Aging.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Nursing Programs Aim To Help Seniors
This past weekend, Amanda Cuda, reporting for CTpost.com, detailed how universities in Connecticut have altered their curriculum and training efforts to address to prominent issues for the geriatric population, medication management and fall prevention. These programs reflect the evolving care trends as the baby boomer generation continues to age.
Click here to read the article.
Click here to read other blogposts relating to medication management.
Click here to read other blogposts relating to fall prevention.
Click here to read the article.
Click here to read other blogposts relating to medication management.
Click here to read other blogposts relating to fall prevention.
Friday, September 23, 2011
Today is National Falls Prevention Awareness Day!
September 23rd is not only the first official day of Fall but also National Falls Prevention Awareness Day. INQRI has continued to support research studies examining ways in which to prevent falls.
Click here to access the National Council for Aging's National Falls Prevention Awareness Day website which includes numerous resources to learn more about falls and how to prevent them.
Click here to access a JAMA article published by an INQRI supported team comprised of Dr. Patricia Dykes, Dr. Blackford Middleton and colleagues, that examined fall prevention in acute care hospitals.
Click here to read more about Dr. Maria Titler & Dr. Gary Rosenthal's study investigating linkages between the level of professional nursing practice and adoption of evidence-base practices, fall prevalence and injury from falls.
Click here to read about Dr. Maria Titler's current INQRI project examining the implementation of a risk specific fall prevention bundle to reduce falls in hospitals.
Click here to access the National Council for Aging's National Falls Prevention Awareness Day website which includes numerous resources to learn more about falls and how to prevent them.
Click here to access a JAMA article published by an INQRI supported team comprised of Dr. Patricia Dykes, Dr. Blackford Middleton and colleagues, that examined fall prevention in acute care hospitals.
Click here to read more about Dr. Maria Titler & Dr. Gary Rosenthal's study investigating linkages between the level of professional nursing practice and adoption of evidence-base practices, fall prevalence and injury from falls.
Click here to read about Dr. Maria Titler's current INQRI project examining the implementation of a risk specific fall prevention bundle to reduce falls in hospitals.
Monday, June 20, 2011
Hospital-Wide Initiative Cuts Falls by 30%
The Community Medical Center (Toms River, NJ) has made an incredible advance in increasing patient safety. Within one year, the center decreased patient falls by 30%. They have labeled their initiative a "three-ingredient recipe for success." Their recipe containes three main ingredients: education, assessment and intervention.
The center's success has been profiled in a recent article for Nurse.com by Mary D. DeLima, RN-BC, BA, BSN. Nurses have been key to the success of the initiative. As DeLima writes:
INQRI researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital have also found success in reducing patient falls. This research team focused on the characteristics unique to each patient to create a tailored intervention.
Click here to learn more.
The center's success has been profiled in a recent article for Nurse.com by Mary D. DeLima, RN-BC, BA, BSN. Nurses have been key to the success of the initiative. As DeLima writes:
"Each patient presents a unique combination of safety risks that could result in a painful, life-changing fall. Nurses understand the importance of reducing falls, but as patient advocates also respect the importance of patients’ independence."Click here to read the article.
INQRI researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital have also found success in reducing patient falls. This research team focused on the characteristics unique to each patient to create a tailored intervention.
Click here to learn more.
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