Patient Safety and Quality Issue

Answer

Patient Safety and Quality Issue

            Falls among inpatients is one the common patient safety concerns experienced in clinical settings. This paper explores the case of patient falls while outlining recommendations on how to avoid the safety concern among patients.

Description

            While at work in a critical care facility, I experienced different cases of patient falls among the inpatients. A patient fall is an event whereby the patient comes to rest inadvertently on the floor or on other lower level (World Health Organization (WHO), 2018). Fall-related injuries, particularly in clinical settings, can be serious requiring further hospitalizations if not fatal (WHO, 2018). Falls in the inpatient sections and the resultant injuries are considered as some of the leading hospital acquired conditions that have few techniques of prevention established (Cuttler, Barr-Walker & Cuttler, 2017).

Causes of Inpatient Falls

            Inpatient falls is as a result of several factors. While working in a clinical setting, I established that most patients who suffered fall events majorly complained of dizziness, a situation which can be associated with an adverse drug reaction. Moreover, patients with gait instability or abnormality constantly recorded instances of falls required assistance when it came to movement. Confusion is also a factor which triggered fall events among some patients in the clinical setting. Morris and O'Riordan (2017) reiterate this factor stating that confusion/dizziness, gait instability, and adverse drug reactions are some of the major risk factors resulting to patient falls. Having knowledge about the risk factors which prompt inpatient falls is an important consideration as it aids in the development of falls risk scores to encourage prevention efforts among patients at high risk (Morris & O'Riordan, 2017).

Recommendations for Improvement

            Caring for the hospital environment is one of the effective strategies for promoting patient safety and care. In the case of inpatient falls, the provision of aids focused on assisting the patients with their mobility would be effective in the reduction of the risk of falls, particularly among patients with gait abnormalities (Morris & O'Riordan, 2017). The introduction of bed exit alarms is also a recommendation that can be considered to reduce the instances of patient falls. Cuttler, Barr-Walker and Cuttler (2017) state that with bed exit alarms, the staff members will be alerted in cases where the patients move in bed or when they get out of it. As a result, the nurse will come to the bedside to assist the patient as required before they exit the bed, and hence prevent instances of a fall.

            Training is also an effective strategy which can be implemented in a clinical setting to reduce the risk of falls. Evidently, health care providers should be trained on fall prevention strategies that are evidence-based. Moreover, the patients as well as the community should be educated on how to overcome the risk of falls while in the inpatient care setting (WHO, 2018). The training will be effective in reducing the fall potential as the directly impacted stakeholders will have knowledge of the proper actions to be undertaken to avoid such events. Also, the risk of falls can be prevented through the prescription of the right assistive devices that addresses sensory impairments, especially among older adults (WHO, 2018). This would promote an effective movement, thus preventing instances of inpatient falls.

Conclusion

            Inpatient falls is a common factor noted in clinical settings. The situation arises as a result of gait instability, confusion and adverse drug reaction among others. Staff and patient training, the use of sensory movement system, using the proper sensory and physical assistive devices can prevent potential for falls among inpatients.