Posts by dwana
In-Hospital Neck of Femur Fractures Increased Mortality
A study at a British university hospital retrospectively reviewed neck of femur fracture cases that occurred between January 2010 and December 2012. The goal of the study was to determine whether inpatient and outpatient falls resulting in neck of femur fracture had different outcomes. A total of 1,156 patients fell an
Falls Screening in England and Wales
Recognizing an urgent need to prevent inpatient falls in mental health settings, the Oxford Health National Health Foundation Trust led a review of the National Health Service mental trusts in England and health care boards in Wales. Fall risk prevention tools and policies were evaluated for alignment with the 2004 Nat
Expanding Adverse Event Reporting to Drive Quality Improvement
A statewide advisory committee of the Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority recently developed a falls reporting program that extended the concept of falls prevention into the realm of quality improvement.1 The resulting Pennsylvania Patient Safety Reporting System (PA-PSRS) uses set definitions of inpatient falls and
Correctly Identifying At-Risk Parkinson’s Patients
A recent study at the Christian-Albrechts University Hospital in Germany aimed to discover an appropriate falls risk tool for identifying at-risk patients with Parkinson’s disease. The prospective study compared the Fullerton Advanced Balance Scale (FAB), Mini Balance Evaluation Systems Test (Mini-BESTest), and Berg Ba
Challenges in Defining Inpatient Falls in the NDNQI
Inpatient falls data have been collected in the National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators (NDNQI) since 2003. Different types of care units have contributed data since that time, including adult critical care, step-down, medical, surgical, and medical-surgical. In 2012, a team from the University of Kansas revise
Safety Culture Related to Nursing Processes and Patient Outcomes
Nine hospitals and 37 nursing units participated in a recent study that explored the relationship between nursing metrics, patient outcomes, and safety culture. The Affordable Care Act of 2009 drew attention to the need for high-quality healthcare for Americans and to the costs of preventable conditions such as errors
Inpatient Falls During Post-Stroke Rehabilitation
Patients with stroke present specific challenges with regard to inpatient falls prevention.1-3 Risk factors associated with falls in post-stroke patients1 and the type of falls experienced2 differ from other inpatients. A new falls assessment tool, the Stroke Assessment of Fall Risk (SAFR) considers factors relevant to
FIM Predicts Rehab Inpatient Falls
A rehabilitation facility evaluated Functional Independence Measure (FIM) items and patient diagnoses to identify variables that were associated with high risk of falling. FIM scores and diagnoses were collected for the 174 patients in the study. Several FIM items were associated with high risk of falling, including to
Falls Lengthen Hospital Stays, Even in Uninjured Patients
A new Canadian study revealed that inpatient falls lengthen hospital stays for all patients, regardless of degree of injury. The retrospective observational study at a 728-bed acute care teaching hospital compared 292 patients who fell with 330 control patients. Controls were selected on the basis of case mix, gender,
Age and Gender Predict Serious Injury Falls in Hospitalized Patients
A recent study identified predictors of falls with resultant serious injury in hospitalized patients. A total of 1,438 patient falls that occurred between 2008 and 2010 were evaluated by secondary data analysis. Numerous variables were examined, including demographics, illness severity, and hospital unit. An online eve
Two New Studies Review Falls Risk Assessment Tool Performance
Falls risk stratification is complex and difficult to achieve due to the many variables that contribute to patient fall risk. More than 35 factors are believed to contribute directly to inpatient falls. Falls risk assessment tools must be sufficiently sensitive to identify all at-risk patients and sufficiently specific
Modified Falls Risk Tool Predicts Falls in Community-Dwelling Elderly People
Can a questionnaire used in primary care identify elderly patients who are at high risk of falling? Researchers in Japan combined retrospective and prospective studies of 2 different patient samples to develop a method to identify elderly patients with high risk of falling. In the retrospective portion of the study, 18
Inter-rater Reliability of Modified Morse Fall Scale
A recent study in an acute care hospital in Singapore measured the inter-rater reliability of a modified Morse Falls Scale (mMFS). The original MFS consists of 6 evaluation items. In the modified scale, one additional component, “risk taking behavior,” was included. One researcher and nurses on 7 wards participated in
Increased Risk of Hip Fracture in Patients with Multiple Sclerosis
Analysis of data from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS), the largest all-payer health care database in the United States, documented that hip fracture prevalence in people with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is 2.844 times greater than age-matched controls. A retrospective cohort analysis of 20 years of data from the NIS
Hospital-Acquired Delirium Linked to Inpatient Falls
An inter-regional data review demonstrated a relationship between hospital-related falls and delirium at Kaiser Permanente Southern California (KPSC) hospitals. Hospitalized older adults are vulnerable to developing geriatric syndromes, including delirium, which occurs in 1 in 6 older adults hospitalized for medical re
Home Healthcare Falls Risk Assessment Tool Identifies Contribution of Individual Factors
Inspired by The Joint Commission national safety goal of reducing falls, researchers at a home healthcare agency serving suburban Philadelphia evaluated a simple falls risk assessment tool (FRA). The FRA consists of 10 items: level of consciousness/mental status, history of falls (3 months), ambulation/elimination stat