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The relationship between patient blood pathology values and patient falls in an acute‐care setting: A retrospective analysis
Author(s) -
O'Hagan Catherine,
O'Connell Bev
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
international journal of nursing practice
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.62
H-Index - 55
eISSN - 1440-172X
pISSN - 1322-7114
DOI - 10.1111/j.1440-172x.2005.00519.x
Subject(s) - medicine , retrospective cohort study , acute care , patient care , emergency medicine , intensive care medicine , pathology , health care , nursing , economic growth , economics
Few studies have investigated the relationship between patient falls and patient blood pathology values, which can reveal objective information about the health and nutritional status of a patient. It could be that some abnormal values are associated with patients that fall. The objectives of the current study were to determine whether blood pathology values were different in patients who fell compared to patients who did not fall, and whether there was a difference in the type and number of currently documented risk factors for falls found for patients who fell compared to patients who did not fall. A retrospective audit of patient incident reports and medical records was conducted in an acute‐care hospital for 220 patients who fell and who did not fall. Faller and non‐faller patients were matched by casemix type and length of stay. Findings revealed a significant relationship between patients who fell and the variables of age, confusion status and alkaline phosphatase blood values.