Literature Review Regarding Inpatient Falls

Answer

Literature Review Regarding Inpatient Falls

Inpatient falls are some of the adverse events that affect the safety and health of patients in an inpatient setting. Specifically, the falls may lead to mild to acute injuries and even death (Goldsack et al., 2015). As such, addressing thee falls will be instrumental in ensuring the health and safety of patients. A variety of scholarly articles have been published with regards to the issue of falls in the inpatient settings. This paper provides a reflection of five articles related to the change idea of patient falls.

Initial Assessment and Ideas for My Change Project Topic/Question

            In the United States, falls in hospitalized patients have become widespread and seriously threaten the safety of patients. According to Bouldin et al. (2013),  accidental falls are among the common incidents in hospitals and complicate 2% of hospital stays. Additionally, the fall rates in the USA hospitals range from 3.3 to 11.5 fall per 1,000 patient bed days (Walsh et al., 2018). Also, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality estimates that between 700,000 and 1 million patients falls occur in hospitalized settings each year (Goldsack et al., 2015). Even more disturbing, one third of inpatient falls result in injuries and even serious injuries such as head trauma and fractures. Falls that do not lead to physical injuries may result in increased anxiety to the patients and to their family members. As such, changing the current approaches to patient falls is critical to arrest the alarming number of falls and their effects on the patients and their families.

Steps I Will Be Making Towards My Change Project

            I will rely on Kotter's change management approaches framework for my change project. In specific, the first step I will take will be to create an urgency and hype around the issue of inpatient falls. More specifically, I will use the statistics about the falls and presentations to create an urgent need for change. The second step will be to build up a team of people who support my idea to lead in the change project. I will then create a vision for the team such as what I want the project to achieve. Afterward, I will communicate the vision across the organization using various fora such as social media and using pamphlets. Since some people might be resistance to the change project, I would use effective communication to convince them to become part of the change project. I will then recognize and report any quick wins such as reduced fall rates within the first week. Finally, I will integrate the change into the culture of the organization.

How These Articles Will Advance My Knowledge on The Project Topic/Question

            The five articles chosen will be instrumental in providing evidence that will advance my knowledge on the issue of patient falls and approaches towards addressing the issue. For instance, Bouldin et al. (2013) will enhance my knowledge about the prevalence of inpatient falls and why a change is needed. However, Walsh et al. (2018) will increase my knowledge about the approaches that have been used to prevent patient falls and their effectiveness. Goldsack et al. (2015) will particularly equip me with information about the effectiveness of the hourly rounding approach in the prevention of patient falls. Sand‐Jecklin and Sherman (2014); Gregory et al. (2014) will be vital in providing me with information about the approach of bedside reporting as an intervention for preventing patient falls. As such, these articles will play a pivotal role in providing me with a knowledge base about the issue of inpatient falls.

How I Will Integrate These Resources into My Project

            I will integrate the information from the articles chosen through quoting them, summarizing, and paraphrasing their most important evidence. For instance, in the background to the project, I will quote Bouldin et al.’s (2013) statistics on patient falls and their effects and hence demonstrate why a change is needed. Additionally, I will summarize the key points made in the other articles to demonstrate the reason as to why I have chosen one approach as opposed to the other in addressing the issue of patient falls. Specially, I will use the findings by Sherman (2014); Gregory et al. (2014) and Goldsack et al. (2015) to support my recommended action towards the prevention of the issue. Integrating these resources into my project will be vital in ensuring that the proposed recommendations are evidence-based.

In conclusion, patient falls are one of the common incidences in hospitals that threaten the safety and health of patients. Various scholarly articles have been published on the issue of patient falls and how to address it. I will rely on the 8-step framework by Kotter to advance my change project. The various articles chosen will help in increasing my knowledge about the issue of inpatient falls and approaches to addressing it. I will integrate such resources into my project trough quoting, summarizing, and paraphrasing their findings in support of my ideas and recommended actions to resolve the issue of patient falls and ensure the safety of hospitalized patients.