Fall prevention in hospitalized patients

Fall Prevention in Hospitalized Patients.
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Patient falls are defined as the frequency at which patients fall per a thousand patient days during their hospital stays (Griffin & Auler, 2011). Falls and injuries resulting from falls in hospitalized patients are one of the most frequently reported events among people in an inpatient setting. A fall might cause internal bleeding, fracture, lacerations, or tears, leading to and increased rate of health care utilization. According to a study conducted the by Bell (2010), patient falls are listed as the third most frequent cause of injury death in inpatients and the leading cause for patients over the age of 65 years. Patient falls are a quality indicator in inpatient service delivery and can tell a lot about the quality of nursing in a particular hospital. In other words, nurses are liable and assume the fundamental responsibility if a patient in their hospital falls in an inpatient setting. Patient fall prevention in inpatient setting involves the management of the underlying fall risk factors affecting a patient and optimizing the environment and physical design of a hospital to reduce the frequency of patient falls considerably. This paper will cover a framework for applying the phenomena of fall prevention in hospitalized patients, including discussions of how this practice enhances patient safety, impact, effective and legal aspect of providing nursing care in the clinical setting. It will also ana…