Essay Sample on Prevention of Falls

Introduction

The hospital admission is often associated with tremendous changes in both the physical and cognitive conditions. When combined with the unknown surrounding factors these conditions present a high risk of falls. In the context of the hospitalization, the postoperative period (PO) is considered the period from the time the patient leaves the operating room until the end of the assessment or monitoring by the health team especially after the final evaluation. Based on the criticality associated with this stage, the patients from the postoperative period require a specialized type of care from the health team to facilitate the process of safe recovery. The hospitalized postoperative patients are subject to numerous complications, including the risks of fall. In turn, the falls have been shown to be among the primary adverse events that affect the hospitalized patients. The rise in the incidences of fall among postoperative patients is based on the condition of health recovery, the change of environment or even the pharmacological therapy adopted. The adverse event of fall, in this case, can result in considerable morbidity for the patient as well as to the institution involved. While it is evident that the incidences for the fall in the majority of hospitals in the United States have seen a significant rise, the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations list all the possible solutions and programs that can be executed to prevent the occurrence of fall incidences among the postoperative patients.

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Our PICO question aimed at assessing whether or not the fall among postoperative patients can be prevented. Various articles from my internet research substantially provided greater insights regarding ways through which the falls among the postoperative patients can be prevented.

The article "Prevention of falls in acute hospital settings: a multi-site audit and best practice implementation project" by Stephenson et al. assessed the fall prevention programs in the Australian hospitals and implemented the interventions to promote the best practices. Primarily, the Stephenson et al. mentions that the education and training programs among all staffs are essential in the prevention of the fall during the postoperative periods. On a broader note, the education and training ensure that all staffs are aware of their responsibilities at every stage of care after the patient has been discharged from the operation room. For practical training and education, it is necessary to have policies which are written clearly and easy to use assessment tools. Ensuring that each risk factor is addressed adequately forms a crucial part when it comes to the prevention of falls. In reality, this includes the environmental causes along with the medical as well as the personal issues. Like any other settings, hospitals also have a tremendous share of hazards which pose more significant risks of falls to our patients.

Another article, "Postoperative prevention of falls in older adults with fragility fractures" further provides the discussion about ways through which falls can be prevented. The author Domentiero et al. recognizes that the best way to avoid the falls among postoperative patients is through the removal of possible environmental factors that present risks. Having cleaners in the room or ward when patients are unlikely to be mobilizing is an excellent step towards minimizing such falls. Additionally, ensuring that the health and safety are of crucial concern to every member of the department is essential.

The article, "Postoperative falls in the acute hospital setting: characteristics, risk factors, and outcomes in males" by Church et al. offers an excellent exposition of the causes, risks factors and the outcomes of the postoperative falls among the males patients. The author recognizes that the recognition of the fall risks factors will help design postoperative fall prevention programs by identifying patients at highest risks postoperative falls. To put an effective falls prevention strategy in place, health experts need to utilize an assessment tool to establish which patients with specific threats. Such information must be used in admission, during the transfer, following a change in status.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is evident that the identification of the risks and appropriate fall prevention interventions among postoperative patients is fundamental. The articles discussed present the overview of the strategies to identify fall risks in the postoperative patients especially after suffering the fragility fracture. The evidence offered in the article favors the targeted multicomponent interventions for the falls prevention instead of a single intervention among the postoperative patients at high risks of falls.

References

Church, S., Robinson, T. N., Angles, E. M., Tran, Z. V., & Wallace, J. I. (2011). Postoperative falls in the acute hospital setting: characteristics, risk factors, and outcomes in males. The American Journal of Surgery, 201(2), 197-202.

Demontiero, O., Gunawardene, P., & Duque, G. (2014). Postoperative prevention of falls in older adults with fragility fractures. Clinics in geriatric medicine, 30(2), 333-347.

Ganz, D. A., Huang, C., Saliba, D., Miake-Lye, I. M., Hempel, S., Ganz, D. A., & Ensrud, K. E. (2013). Preventing falls in hospitals: a toolkit for improving quality of care. Ann Intern Med, 158(5 Pt 2), 390-396.

Stephenson, M., Mcarthur, A., Giles, K., Lockwood, C., Aromataris, E., & Pearson, A. (2015). Prevention of falls in acute hospital settings: a multi-site audit and best practice implementation project. International Journal for Quality in Health Care, 28(1), 92-98.

Vitor, A. F., Moura, L. A., Fernandes, A. P. N. L., Botarelli, F. R., Araujo, J. N. M., & Vitorino, I. C. C. (2015). Risk for falls in patients in the postoperative period. Cogitare Enferm. [Internet], 20(1), 29-37.