Falls with serious injury are consistently listed among the Top 10 Sentinel events reported to the Joint Commission Sentinel Event database. This month, the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) is hosting a five-session virtual training on “New Strategies for Preventing Falls” to tackle this common source of patient harm. Register for the IHI Virtual Expedition or to join us in the WSHA office to participate with our team!
The IHI Virtual Expedition will begin on June 11, 2019. Evidence-based approaches presented will include:
• Implementing Effective Community-based Fall Prevention Programs
• The Pharmacist’s Toolkit to Help Prevent Falls
• Strategies for Reducing Falls in Long-Term Care Settings
• Strategies for Reducing Falls Among Residents in Assisted Living Facilities
• New Ways to Think about Fall Prevention
While extensive clinical research and evidence-based strategies in fall prevention exist, reducing injurious falls in the hospital environment remains difficult. Several factors contribute to falls such as variation in assessment tools to identify fall risk factors, ineffective communication and handoffs, inadequately individualizing a patient’s plan of care and the physical environment.
Key elements for a sustainable fall prevention program include:
• Organizational leadership support
• An interdisciplinary and diverse team that meets routinely and systematically to analyze fall data and identify trends and opportunities for continuous improvement
• A standard comprehensive fall risk assessment tool, communication plan and educational training for all staff
• Patient and family engagement and a standard post-fall management process
