Preventing Patient Falls: A Step in the Right Direction (W5042)-Preventing Patient Falls A Step in the Right Direction Recording

Video Transcription

Video Summary

Laura Dixon, an expert in patient safety and risk management, delivers a comprehensive presentation on preventing patient falls in healthcare settings. With over 20 years of clinical experience as a registered nurse and attorney, she emphasizes the significant impact of falls, which affect between 700,000 and 1 million people annually, with a third being preventable. Falls result in high costs, hospital readmissions, injuries including fractures and head trauma, and are the leading cause of sentinel events tracked by the Joint Commission.<br /><br />Dixon explains fall prevention must consider patient-specific factors like underlying conditions, medication side effects (notably from sedatives like Ambien), cognitive impairment, and environmental hazards such as poor lighting or slippery floors. She highlights assessments and standardized tools—like the Morse scale and John Hopkins tool—to evaluate fall risks, often incorporating medication review with pharmacist input. Intrinsic risks (physical, mental status) and extrinsic risks (environmental factors) both contribute to fall likelihood.<br /><br />Best practices discussed include multidisciplinary engagement, hourly rounding, patient and family education, use of alarms and bed sensors (with caution due to alarm fatigue), mobility encouragement, and individualized care plans. She advises against routine use of restraints due to safety and ethical concerns. Post-fall protocols involve thorough assessment, documentation, communication, and root cause analysis to prevent recurrence.<br /><br />Dixon shares resources such as toolkits from AHRQ, CDC, and the National Quality Forum, along with examples of successful interventions that reduced falls by up to 66%. She stresses leadership commitment, consistent staff training, and continuous quality improvement. The session concludes with a case study illustrating consequences of inadequate fall prevention and response. Overall, the presentation advocates a data-driven, patient-centered, and system-wide approach to fall prevention to improve safety and reduce costs.

Keywords

patient safety

risk management

fall prevention

healthcare settings

registered nurse

attorney

falls statistics

injuries from falls

Joint Commission sentinel events

patient-specific factors

medication side effects

fall risk assessment tools

multidisciplinary engagement

post-fall protocols