HQIN is presenting an educational series tailored for nursing home stand-up meetings, aimed at decreasing preventable emergency room (ED) visits and hospital readmissions. HQIN is sending out talking points that can be included in daily stand-up meetings to increase staff knowledge on relevant topics like effective communication, adverse drug events and infection prevention. The program is designed to empower nursing home staff with practical knowledge to foster a safer environment.
This week’s strategies include Falls. Below is an overview of information and resources.
- Talk about environmental hazards that may contribute to a resident falling.
How many can your staff name (wet floors, poor lighting, incorrect bed height, improperly fitting wheelchair, poor shoes, or resident needs such as the need to use bathroom, items not in reach, call bell not in reach)?
Print the Environmental Safety resource and review with your team, then post it for other staff members to have for reference. Create a Falls bulletin board to display educational resources to reduce falls for your team.
- How many times have you seen a resident try to stand, transfer or walk unassisted? It takes a team, working together, to reduce falls.
If you see a resident that looks unsafe, let someone know. Purposeful rounding can be conducted by anyone (housekeeping, dietary, maintenance, nursing, social services, activities and volunteers) who is “walking” in the facility.
Print the Falls Prevention resource and share with team members, then post it for others to reference.
- What are the 4 P’s to reduce fall risk? Pain. Potty. Positioning. Possessions. Implementing purposeful rounding for all staff can significantly reduce fall risk.
Print and post the following resource on The 4 P’s of Reducing the Risk of Falls and discuss them in depth with your staff. Also, download these 4 P’s Cards that can be cut out and shared with staff.
- It is time to talk about engagement and sleep hygiene. Improving mobility, psychosocial well-being and sleep hygiene has been shown to reduce fall risk.
Print and post Simple Strategies to Prevent Falls: Engagement and Sleep Hygiene for your team. Discuss ways your team can improve sleep for your residents.
- Who is tracking falls in your facility and are they including it as part of QAPI? Is there a system of sharing information on falls and letting all members of the team know the facility’s fall data?
Designate a “falls champion” today and continue to find great information on fall reduction to share with your team. Charts and graphs can be great to share! Download the Health Quality Innovation Network (HQIN) Nursing Home Falls Tracking Tool and implement it into your team processes.