Introduction
According to the Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality, 700,000 to 1 million patients fall in hospitals each year. National organizations, such as The Joint Commission and the Department of Veterans Affairs, report high prevalence of sentinel event and root cause analysis reports on fall-related injuries, making fall prevention a high priority for hospitals. The Centers for Disease Control states one in five falls does not result in an injury, but when an injury occurs, the subsequent pain, cost, delay in discharge, delay in recovery, and increased risk of mortality negatively impact patients and caregivers alike. The Tennessee Center for Patient Safety supports hospital efforts to reduce falls and fall-related injuries through provision of evidence-based fall-prevention strategies, focused education programs, and opportunities for peer-to-peer sharing of practice.
Resources
Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI)
United States Department of Veterans Affairs Resources
Additional Resources
- Patient Safety & Quality Healthcare (PSQH) “A Team Approach to Fall Prevention”
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) STEADI (Stopping Elderly Accidents, Deaths & Injuries) Tool Kit for Health Care Providers
- Annals of Internal Medicine “Inpatient Fall Prevention Programs as a Patient Safety Strategy: A Systematic Review”
THA Falls Collaborative
The THA Board of Directors identified falls as a priority area of focus for 2020. Despite ongoing efforts by hospitals, falls with injuries remain a challenge.
This virtual collaborative, led by national falls subject-matter expert, Jackie Conrad, BS, RN, MBA, RCC® of Cynosure Health, seeks to blend the “art” of change management with the science of evidence-based practices.
- Baptist Memorial Hospital – Collierville
- Baptist Memorial Hospital Memphis
- Baptist Restorative Care Hospital
- Bristol Regional Medical Center
- CHI Memorial
- Franklin Woods Community Hospital
- Hardin Medical Center
- Henry County Medical Center
- Livingston Regional Hospital
- Maury Regional Medical Center
- Nashville General Hospital at Meharry
- Regional One Health
- Riverview Regional Medical Center
- Saint Francis Hospital – Bartlett
- Saint Francis Hospital – Memphis
- Saint Thomas Midtown Hospital
- Saint Thomas West Hospital
- Saint Thomas Rutherford Hospital
- Siskin Rehabilitation Hospital
- Southern Tennessee Regional Health System-Lawrenceburg
- Tennova Healthcare Cleveland
- TriStar Skyline Medical Center
- Trousdale Medical Center
- Unity Psychiatric Care Columbia
- University of Tennessee Medical Center
- Vanderbilt University Adult Hospital
- West Tennessee Healthcare Dyersburg
- CAPTURE Falls: Managing Fall Risk during the COVID-19 Pandemic – University of Nebraska Medical Center
- Mobility Change Packet
- Get Moving Tool– Courtesy of CMC Hospital, NH
- Mobility Chart with Steps and Time
- Daily Bedside Mobility Sign
- Falls TIPS Tools
- Floor Mat Resource and Implementation Guide
- VA Fall Injury Prevention Implementation Gude
- Blood Thinners: Risk Factors Associated with Falling and What to Do When You Fall
- B.M.A.T. – Banner Mobility Assessment Tool for Nurses
- Falls Algorithm
- Fall TIPS
- Who Am I? Get to Know Your Patient
- Preventing Falls in the Hospital – Lutheran Health
- Safe from Falls – Minnesota Hospital Association
- Progressive Mobility Continuum
- Get Up Case Study
- Hip Protector Implementation Toolkit
- Hospital Story – Walker Baptist Medical Center
- Walk of Fame Ambulation Board
- Pilot Testing Fall TIPS(2017)
- Adoption of TIPS in Academic Health System (2019)
- Guided Reflection: A Strategy to Reduce Patient Falls and Fall-Related Injuries (2018)
- The Frances Healey Reader: Key ideas and references
- False Bed Alarms a Teachable Moment
- Eat Walk Engage: An Interdisciplinary Collaborative Model to Improve Care Hospitalized Elders
- Outcomes of Inpatient Mobilization: A Literature Review
- Emergency Room Falls
- 2016 False Bed Alarms a Teachable Moment
- 2011 Bed Alarm Article, Shore
- 2009 Bed Alarm Article
- Shorr R, Chandler A, Mion L, Waters T, Liu M, Daniels M, Kessler L, ,Miller, S.T. (2012). Effects of an intervention to increase bed alarm use to prevent falls in hospitalized patients. A cluster randomized trial. Annals of Internal Medicine, 157, 692–699. Retrieved 12.30.17.
