Fall in Older Adults

Answer

Fall in Older Adults

            Falls are the primary factors which results to injury in adults aged 65 years or more. A serious fall can result to serious impacts such as a limited functional independence as well as the quality of life. According to Marks (2014), hip fracture is one of the potential concerns of associated with falls in older adults. Falls experienced in older adults is the major problem which will be explored in the project. The description and impact of the problem will also be examined.

Description

A fall refers to an unintentional event which results in the person coming to rest on a lower level such as the ground. Falls are common in hospital care, especially among the elderly patients. The epidemiology study conducted by Marks (2014) provides an indication that falls are experienced at the rate of 3-5 per 1000 bed-days. Elderly patients who are prone to falls are at a risk of serious injuries such as head trauma and fractures. The risk of patient falls is higher among the elderly patients. Marks (2014) reports that the outlined risk rises with age as a result of several factors. For instance, balance problems, general frailty and weakness, vision problems, cognitive concerns, acute illnesses, medications and environmental hazards (Alsaif, 2018).

 Setting

The issue of patient falls will majorly explored from the context of elderly patients in a health organization.

Impact of the Problem

            Patient falls among older patients is defined by several impacts such as diminished function as a result of injury, loss of mobility and increased fear of falling in the future. Chiu, Jean, Fleming and Pei (2018) state that patient falls among the members of the presented age bracket mostly result to hip fractures which impact the ability of the person to move around without assistance. Moreover, head injuries are also common among elderly persons who have experienced falls. Therefore, it is accurate to derive that falls are a marker of immobility, frailty, and chronic and severe health damage among the older patients.

            Patient falls among the elderly negatively influences the work environment based on the fact that the patient will find it difficult to move around with assistance as a result of the associated injuries (Christensen, Hede & Nielsen, 2011). Therefore, the general amount of work output produced by the older persons will decline significantly within the work setting. Tricco, Thomas and Veroniki (2018) indicate that patient falls experienced among the elderly will also impact the quality of care administered by the nursing staff. Notably, the nurses will have to be more focused in administering an improved quality care when handling elderly persons who have experienced falls. The fact that serious injuries such as joint dislocation and hematoma can be experienced due to the falls mean that the care givers must be cautious when handling such patients to avoid causing further pain and injury (Marks, 2014b). Falls among the elderly negatively influences the patient outcomes which is reflected by the increased pain and decreased quality of life (Alsaif, 2018).

Significance

Patients falls among elderly patients is significant since it guides care givers and nurses to establish proper measures which can be considered to prevent the presented problem from occurring. To nursing practice, falls among the elderly patients has guided the nurses to devise proper strategies and interventions focused on achieving zero falls, protecting the patient and the unit by reducing the risk among the patients in the documented population group (Kwan & Straus, 2014).

Proposed Solution

Patient falls can be addressed through rehabilitative therapies such as engaging in balance and gait training. Notably, balance and gait abnormalities are related with falls among the elderly. However, with rehabilitative strategies such as strength training and balance can be improved, hence reducing the potential for a fall (Maya, 2017).