An Examination of Preventive Strategies to Reduce Elderly Patient Hospital Falls

Nova Southeastern University, Davie, Florida, USA

Objective. This case study was implemented in an attempt to reduce the number of hospital in-patient falls by utilizing the Modified Hendrich Scale. Background: According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the average cost for in-hospital falls is $34 billion dollars per year while more than 80% of the falls reported are from patients who are 65 and older. Falls with injuries are among the 10 top reported sentinel events for the elderly patient. Methods. Fall data from all units in a selected regional hospital were recorded prior to and after an educational intervention session on fall prevention. The number of occupied beds with patients over the age of 65 and the length of stay and the number of falls for each unit were recorded for 32 weeks. The fall audit tool was used to analyze fall score; monitored fall risk scores, fall signs, bed and chair alarms and fall risk for patients wearing the red socks identifier. Results: 72% of the patients had fall signs. Among patients audited before the implementation of the protocol, 16% experienced at least one fall. Among the 217 patients audited after the implementation of the protocol, 10% experienced at least one fall. The Fisher’s exact test indicated that the patient's fall was statistically significantly lower after the implementation of the protocol (p = 0.044). Conclusion. The implementation of an evidence-based fall protocol was suggested to be effective and a significant contributor to decreasing patient falls.