N110 Journal Summary Assignment
Student Name: Anna Lam
Dykes, P. C., Adelman, J., & Adkison, L. (2018, October 03). Preventing falls in hospitalized patients. Retrieved November 01, 2018, from https://www.americannursetoday.com/preventing-falls-hospitalized-patients/
Why was this topic and article chosen?
The topic of preventing falls in hospitalized patients was selected because falls in the hospital can be very dangerous for the patient. Nurses are the ones who are constantly caring for the patient and there are many ways to prevent falls. Falls can be can be life or death for some patients which is why the prevention of falls is very important in a hospitalized setting.
How does this topic relate to a safety issue?
Nurses can prevent patient falls. There are certain ways to prevent them which is very beneficial to the patient. A nurse not knowing the ways to prevent falls can put the patient in serious harm. Knowing how to properly prevent, assess, and manage patients at fall risk is very important. Nurses can be at risk for injury too because improper body mechanics while helping the patient can injure the nurse.
Summary
In the article “preventing falls in hospitalized patients” written by Patricia C. Dykes, PhD, RN; Jason Adelman, MD; Lesley Adkison Phd, RN; and other contributors wrote this article to educate how to prevent falls in a hospitalized setting. The authors mentioned how there are different screening tools for falls and when to use the screening tools. Also the author goes into detail how how patient and family engagement is beneficial for the patient at risk for falls.
The authors claim that falls are the most common cause of accidental injury or death in the elderly population. In a hospitalized setting falls can lengthen the patients stay in the hospital and once a patient has fallen once, the patient can have a fear of falling again which can cause them to be less likely to move around which can place them at a higher risk of falling.
The authors indicate that there are three different types of falls which are: accidental falls, anticipated physiological falls, and unanticipated physiological falls. The authors also state risk factors for falls. A patient who has a history of falling has a really high risk of falling again and a patient with gait problems has a risk of falling. Urinary incontinence and patients with impaired judgment also can put the patient at risk of falling. The last risk factor that the author claims can cause falls are: medications. In the article, there are many screening tools mentioned such as the ABC’s tool, Morse Fall Scale, Schmid Fall Risk Assessment Tool, and the STRATIFY Fall Risk Assessment Tool. The fall risk assessment should be done with every patient when they get admitted to the hospital. The authors strongly emphasize that patient and family engagement is very helpful for the patient at risk for falls. The authors claims that patients sometimes don’t believe that they are at risk for falling and they don’t follow the Nurses/Physicians orders. When the nurse conducts an assessment on the patient for falls, it shows the family and patient that they are indeed at risk for falls and should follow the Nurses interventions. The authors state that every patient should have a fall risk prevention care plan and to consistently carry out the care plan and if the interventions do not work, you need to revise the interventions to better suite the patient.
The author included many helpful screening tools and tips to help decrease falls in the hospitalized setting. Falls are fatal for some patients and every patient should be assessed for falls. The author goes into detail how even patients who are not at risk of falls should still have a fall risk prevention care plan. The participation of nurses, the nurse’s aide, patient, and the patient’s family play a big role a patients care plan for falls. The author offered plenty of information to Nurses on how to properly prevent, assess, and manage patients at risk for falls.