Iris Berryhill
Nova Southeaster University, USA
Title: Fall prevention for 65 and older in-hospital patients
Biography
Biography: Iris Berryhill
Abstract
The increase in hospital falls for the elderly patients remained a concern to the global healthcare community. The injuries relating to falls, resulting in disabilities and financial hardship is affecting both patients and taxpayers. The purpose of the research was to identify the reasons for the in-hospital falls for the 65 and older, and the implementation of innovations to reduce the number of falls. It was completed in four phases, assessment, planning, implementation and evaluation. The research was conducted at a community hospital, over a period of 120 days on various shifts. The information was collected from the audit of 238 patient charts, the nurses, falls reports and frequent rounding on the units. Data from The Joint Commission (TJC) and the Center for Disease Control (CDC) regarding patient falls were reviewed and compared with the hospital’s fall protocol. Comparisons were made with the before and after the implementation of changes from the study. The goal of this project was the implementation of evidence-based changes to the fall prevention program at the community hospital to decrease the patient fall rate. Results from the research was disseminated to community hospitals to help decrease the number of in-hospital falls for the 65 and older.