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Quality assurance of falls reduction in an orthopaedic ward using a novel bedside trolley table set‐up strategy
Author(s) -
Chan Shuang Quan,
Wadsley Marianne,
Ferriere Sue
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
australasian journal on ageing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.63
H-Index - 34
eISSN - 1741-6612
pISSN - 1440-6381
DOI - 10.1111/ajag.12428
Subject(s) - medicine , minimum data set , falling (accident) , emergency medicine , physical therapy , risk assessment , nursing homes , nursing , environmental health , computer security , computer science
Objective To assess whether a novel bedside trolley table set‐up decreased inpatient falls ( IF ) postintervention. Methods From December 2012 to December 2014, geriatric patients admitted to our orthopaedic ward with extreme falls risk had a bedside trolley placed between them and a floor sensor mat to give responders more time to prevent IF. Pre‐ and postintervention falls data was reviewed for falls reduction using falls per month as comparison standard. IF were classified as high or low/medium risk using St Thomas's Risk Assessment Tool In Falling Elderly inpatients ( STRATIFY ) scoring. Results Sixty‐two of 134 falls fulfilled inclusion criteria. The high‐risk group had 33 patients preintervention and 22 patients postintervention, with falls per month at 3.4 preintervention and 1 postintervention. IF reduction was 71% in STRATIFY ≥17 versus 44% in STRATIFY <17. Conclusions The novel set‐up with appropriate assessment may decrease falls in the high‐risk ortho‐geriatric population. Further trials are warranted to confirm its effectiveness.