Fall Prevention in Long Term Care Facilities

At Diversicare Rehabilitation of DVCR between May and July there were 50 falls. Of these falls, 22 people were seriously injured and reported to the state government. All falls reported have caused injuries. The injuries indicated were 10 hip fractures, 5 femurs, 3 shoulders and 4 elbow fractures. Twelve serious injuries occurred among all the falls among the inhabitants who fell the previous week. The fall of the two was reported to the coroner, but it turned out that they were all irrelevant.

Background Despite long-term and extensive attention to prevention of falls, patients continue to fall, many of which cause injuries. Their experience is not unusual. It is estimated that 700,000 to 1 million people are hospitalized in the US hospital every year from 1 30% to 35% of patients injured because of falls and about 11,000 people died. On the day, the cost of severe falls, the average loss per patient is $ 14,056 8,9 Medicare and Medicaid Services Center (CMS) judged that falls are an unavoidable preventable event

Falling patients is one of the most common events affecting patient safety in medical institutions. There are various ways to prevent a patient from falling. To identify, evaluate and prevent patient falls is a major challenge for healthcare professionals to provide a safe environment in medical practice. The hospital gathers to influence the fall and to understand its occurrence and the factors that reduce the resulting injury and death. Therefore, the risk of a patient falling over is considered an indicator of safety for medical institutions. Falls and related injuries are related to the quality of medical care and are cited as indicators of medical quality monitored by the American National Nurse Association, the National Health Quality Indicator Database, and the National Quality Forum. (NCBI)

Nursing is a field of care for patients and injured people, and provides preventive medical services for wells. Nurses work in various scenes such as hospitals, nursing care facilities, public health departments, companies, public schools, mental health centers. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, nurses are carrying out tasks such as providing patient care, evaluating patients, preparing a care plan, and educating on patient status.