Evidence Based RUA

Although The Joint Commission (JACHO) has seemed to disappear behind the curtain in light of recent events with COVID-19, preventing falls in the hospital continues to be one of the

top safety goals for the accreditation and certification committee. Hospitals care a great deal about earning accreditation and certification from The Joint Commission as they set the standard for what patient quality of care and safety of care should be. It should also be mentioned that accreditation [from The Joint Commission] builds confidence in the community that they will receive competent care (The Joint Commission, n.d.).

Patient falls, when resulting in serious injury or death, are considered “sentinel events”. In other words, something that is preventable and should never happen. Although a patient fall is considered a never event, falls do still happen in the hospital setting. The purpose of this paper is to explore the importance of fall prevention along with a proposed solution and goal. With any proposed solution and goal there are barriers and benefits that will be encountered. Barriers being staff knowledge and lack of motivation, and benefits for both the health care team and patients alike. This is where healthcare thrives as working as a team to accomplish a common goal in the benefit of our patients. In relation to what NCLEX-RN category this falls under, the clinical problem this is drawn from is client needs with the subcategory being safety and infection control (National Council of State Boards of Nursing, 2019)

Importance

On average 1.3 to 8.9 falls happen per 1000 patients. Although this may not seem like a significant number of patients, it is one of the leading negative events recorded against hospitals accounting for approximately 70% of inpatient incidents and could lead to even more if left unresolved. This is an issue for patients and hospitals because patient falls lead to increased cost that quickly adds up (averaging $4200 per fall), and reduction of resources (increased length of hospital stay uses up a bed that otherwise would have been available and need for additional skilled nursing staff) (Ashok & Khyathi, 2019). The lost funds could have gone to a range of things the hospital needs. Such as: purchasing staff valuable PPE, purchasing equipment, giving staff raises, and the list goes on and on……..Continue