NR 528 Module 6 Assessment_Falls Prevention QI

Project Proposal Summary of Area of Interest (Section I) Globally, the occurrence of falls is acknowledged as a serious public health issue. The leading cause of injuries globally is falling, which is a condition that doctors frequently assess. A patient can fall assisted (i.e. when a patient starts to fall and is helped to the ground or other item by another person) or unassisted, which refers to the sudden, unexpected descent of the patient's body to the ground or another object (e.g., onto a bed, chair, or bedside mat). Elderly people are more vulnerable to falls due to two primary factors: a decline in the functional reserves needed to maintain the orthostatic posture, as well as concurrent underlying disease and other factors such as unfavorable pharmacological side effects. The risk of falling, according to Strini et al. (2021), is highest for those over 65: 30% of them experience at least one fall every year, while the numbers rise to nearly 50% for those over 80. Fall occurrences while inpatient has become a major concern as most patients already have many comorbidities and are at much higher risk for falling due to multiple factors. This, adds further complications to their already in-place treatment and possibly extends their length of stay at the hospital, not to mention the risk of mortality that it carries. Problem Statement (Section I) The chance of a patient falling has a strong correlation with major injuries, including death. The World Health Organization (WHO, 2022) considers falls as a high-risk, significant public health issue Some authors have shown different approaches and strategies regarding fall prevention, while others have similar ideas on how to prevent them. Most of the research points to common predictors and characteristics that increase a patient's risk of falling. Age, sex, care dependency, prior fall history, use of sedative and/or psychotropic medicines, and surgery are the most frequent predictors of fall risk, according to Bernet et al. (2022). Singh & Anwar (2018) suggest that awareness of prior activities should be considered in determining the risk of falling as well. Hou et al. (2017) and Jones et al. (2020) recommend that the accuracy and validity of the current screening tools be examined and that staff members be given training on these fall risk assessment tools. Post- training, the nursing-led mobility program, in which the nurses had the ability to issue orders for activity levels and physical therapy evaluation post-assessment, was launched according to Jones et al. (2020), as part of a quality improvement project. Studies by other authors demonstrate various fall prevention strategies. According to Hogan et al., the application of Continuous Virtual Monitoring (CVM) in conjunction with common fall precautions showed a decrease in fall rates (2021). In order to assess and anticipate falls, Liu and Lim (2021) developed an algorithm that was integrated into the Electronic Medical Record (EMR). This system had increased accuracy the closer the assessment date got to the actual fall date. The authors of Kiyoshi-Teo et al. (2019) and Bargmann