The most common adverse event that jeopardizes patient safety is patient falls, or for documentation purpose, patient found on the floor. The most common preventable adverse event that jeopardizes the nurse accountability is patient falls. In my four years of nursing, I have had to complete one patient fall incident report, but I have assisted in the documentation of at least four, which was five too many patients fall. Morse fall scale is the fall risk assessment commonly used in the hospital setting. My plan is to educate the patient on their risk for falling, and take the Morse fall scale 2-steps farther. What nurses may not know is, inpatient falls are the liability of the hospital and not reimbursed by Center for Medical and Medicaid Service.
…show more content…
The Morse fall scale assesses the patient’s risk for falling using specific variables; history of falling, secondary diagnosis, uses an ambulatory aid, has an IV access, mobility, and current mental status. Once all variables are assessed, a numeric value is assigned which, estimate if the patient has; no risk of falling, a low to moderate of falling or a high risk of falling during their hospitalization (Helou, Madi & Nassar, 2014). To help decrease the patient risk of falling, I would review the patient current medication; looking for the new administration of opiates, hypertension, sedative or hypnotic medication which, can increase the patient risk of falling (Boenecke, Choi, Lawler, Ponatoski & Zimring, 2011). Then, I will consider the patient age since, increased age increases the patient risk for falling (Given et al., 2011). Finally, I will explain the plan to the patient care technician assigned to my patients because patient safety is our number one goal. One patient falls a month or one patient fall in six months, is one patient fall too …show more content…
They do not come to the hospital to become a victim of a fall that could have been prevented. There is no fall risk assessment tool that can totally eliminate a patient falling, but accurately assessing the patient risk of falls can, decrease the likelihood of a patient falling. With good clinical nursing judgment, patient education on their risk of falls, reviewing patient medication, considering their age and providing a clutter free environment you decrease the chances of a patient falling (Helou et al., 2014). “Nurses have an ethical obligation and culture consideration to implementing a safer environment of care for the patient” (Helou et al., 2014, p.1620) Incorporating my 2-step fall risk assessment plan with the Morse fall assessment was very effective at identifying patients risk for falling due to increasing age, new blood pressure medication, opiates, sedative and hypnotic medication administration. The thank you received from other nurses and doctors was unexpected but appreciated. There was no patient fall on my unit for the five weeks I incorporated my 2-step plan. Unfortunately, a year of implementation would be needed to assess the reliability and validity of my 2-step plan. My project was related to patient safety which, is every nurses job and the number one goal of nursing leadership. The tool that I used for my project was a flow sheet. Completing the
The Morse fall scale assesses the patient’s risk for falling using specific variables; history of falling, secondary diagnosis, uses an ambulatory aid, has an IV access, mobility, and current mental status. Once all variables are assessed, a numeric value is assigned which, estimate if the patient has; no risk of falling, a low to moderate of falling or a high risk of falling during their hospitalization (Helou, Madi & Nassar, 2014). To help decrease the patient risk of falling, I would review the patient current medication; looking for the new administration of opiates, hypertension, sedative or hypnotic medication which, can increase the patient risk of falling (Boenecke, Choi, Lawler, Ponatoski & Zimring, 2011). Then, I will consider the patient age since, increased age increases the patient risk for falling (Given et al., 2011). Finally, I will explain the plan to the patient care technician assigned to my patients because patient safety is our number one goal. One patient falls a month or one patient fall in six months, is one patient fall too …show more content…
They do not come to the hospital to become a victim of a fall that could have been prevented. There is no fall risk assessment tool that can totally eliminate a patient falling, but accurately assessing the patient risk of falls can, decrease the likelihood of a patient falling. With good clinical nursing judgment, patient education on their risk of falls, reviewing patient medication, considering their age and providing a clutter free environment you decrease the chances of a patient falling (Helou et al., 2014). “Nurses have an ethical obligation and culture consideration to implementing a safer environment of care for the patient” (Helou et al., 2014, p.1620) Incorporating my 2-step fall risk assessment plan with the Morse fall assessment was very effective at identifying patients risk for falling due to increasing age, new blood pressure medication, opiates, sedative and hypnotic medication administration. The thank you received from other nurses and doctors was unexpected but appreciated. There was no patient fall on my unit for the five weeks I incorporated my 2-step plan. Unfortunately, a year of implementation would be needed to assess the reliability and validity of my 2-step plan. My project was related to patient safety which, is every nurses job and the number one goal of nursing leadership. The tool that I used for my project was a flow sheet. Completing the