1. 14 FALLS ASSESSMENT IN AN ACUTE AND REHABILITATION HOSPITAL. HOW WELL ARE WE PERFORMING ?
- Author
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Okeke, J., Twine, C., and Singh, I.
- Abstract
Evidence base: Falls in hospital account for almost two-fifths of the patient safety incidents reported to the National Reporting and Learning System. Hospital patients are at a greater risk of falling than people in the community and immediate annual healthcare cost is over £15 million for England and Wales. Multifactorial interventions could produce an 18 percent reduction in the number of falls. We evaluated the local multifactorial falls risk assessment (FRA) tool completed by nurses in an acute and rehabilitation hospital through an audit cycle.Change Strategies: Point prevalence audit from 4 medical wards (n = 105) revealed inadequate assessment and low completion rates of FRA tool. These findings were presented at the audit meeting and interventions introduced were:Formal nurses teaching on completing FRA toolRaised awareness by discussing completing FRA tool at handoverReminder on handover board to prompt FRA tool completionSecond audit was undertaken 9 months later on the same 4 wards (n = 107).Change effects: 105 falls assessment proforma were audited in the first cycle compared with 107 proforma in the second cycle. There was a statistically significant improvement in compliance with falls assessment trigger question and cognitive assessment.Risk Assessement ComplianceAudit 1 (N = 105)Audit 2 (N = 107)p value (t-Test)Falls assessment trigger question69%82%0.001Falls Prevention Care Plan47%62%0.34Medication52%55%0.7Postural Hypotension45%53%0.35Vision47%51%0.54Hearing50%53%0.7Gait & Balance47%52%0.59Continence42%48%0.48Foot wear42%48%0.58Environmental Hazard39%46%0.53Cognition27%45%0.02Osteoporosis32%27%0.41Conclusion: Increased falls awareness has shown to improve completion of the FRA tool. We are continuing this quality improvement process to measure sustained change and reduction in the standard incident reporting for in-patient falls. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2014