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Preventing Falls In Hospital a Waikato Goal
Preventing Falls In Hospital a Waikato
Goal
Preventing falls in hospital is the
business for everyone involved in health.
That is
the message of this year’s Falls promotion, which got
underway this week at Waikato District Health Board
(DHB).
Chief operating officer Jan Adams says falls are
an ongoing and serious cause of patient harm.
“We
take patient safety very seriously and are doing all we can
to prevent harm from falls,” she says.
“Nobody
wants a patient to have a fall while receiving health
care.”
Waikato DHB will mark No Falls month by
not only including details of rolling out the Ministry Of
Health "No falls month" campaign across the DHB but also
celebrating its fall prevention
achievements.
Achievements to date:
•Patient
injury rate continues to decrease
•Fall rate within the
DHB continues to reduce
•Increase in reporting of
patient falls
•The number of falls resulting in a
severity score of 1 has decreased
•More than 1700 staff
have now completed the Upright online falls education
•A comprehensive toolkit of fall prevention strategies
on the intranet
But we still have
some way to go, how can we improve even more?,” said Mrs
Adams.
The DHB "No falls" campaign has been
launched through the Board of Clinical Governance, senior
nurses meeting, nursing round table and the senior
nurse/Allied Health meetings and features on the intranet
message of the day page.
Staff have been asked to
involve patients, families and carers, using their
creativity to show case the fall prevention activities in
their ward/area and service - inpatient, out patient and the
community
Additional resources from the Ministry of
Health, "No falls" Balloons, pens, stickers and two sets of
posters, will provide an opportunity to focus even more on
fall prevention improvements as we go forward
Ideas
in action include: Fall prevention focus boards, update
education (Self directed learning package/Upright online),
streaming of the Thames 'Humpty Dumpty' video; placing the
A4 posters and balloons with the 'releasing time to care'
boards and smaller posters in high risk fall areas:
toilets/bathrooms; stickers and pens are being used to focus
fall prevention conversations/admission and discharge with
patients and /families, quizzes and
competitions.
Mrs Adams says falls can cause
suffering and sometimes death, as well as distress for their
families/whanau or caregivers of the person who has
fallen. A fall-related injury often means a longer
hospital stay and extra medical tests and treatment. It is
one of the main reasons patients for earlier admissions to
an aged residential care facility.
Between 2010 and
2012, 200 people nationally fell while in hospital care and
broke their hip.
“Many falls are preventable and
it’s up to us all to make sure we work as a team to
prevent harm from falls. Our staff are working hard to make
sure every patient is assessed for their risk of a fall,
care plans are developed with patients and family to help
keep them safe on their feet, and we make sure the
environment is safe.”
Older people are most at
risk of falling.
Mrs Adams encourages people to
discuss any concerns with their doctor or nurse, and to ask
for help if they feel unsteady on their
feet.
“Don’t be afraid to ask
for help if you need a hand,” she says.
“It’s also important to make sure you know
where the call-bell is by your bed and that you have
everything that is important within reach, such as your
glasses or walker. Staff will help keep the area around your
bed clutter-free and make sure any spills are attended to so
you don’t slip over.”
A national patient safety
campaign coordinated by the Health Quality & Safety
Commission will focus initially on reducing harm from
falls. Other areas of focus during the campaign will be
healthcare-associated infections, medications and
perioperative harm.
ENDS
Waikato District Health Board
Healthy People. Excellent Care
Waikato District Health Board (DHB) employs over 6500 people and plans, funds and provides hospital and health services to more than 391,770 people in a region covering eight per cent of New Zealand.
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