Preventing Patient Falls in Hospitals

Preventing patient falls in the hospital takes a multifaceted approach. This toolkit offers a comprehensive look at the problem of patient falls and effective ways to address them.

National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators

The National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators provides extensive, detailed data on patient falls and other useful nursing metrics.

Addressing Patient Falls

There are many ways hospitals currently address the problem of patient falls. This systematic review takes a look at the effectiveness of these various methods in practice.

Hospital-Acquired Conditions (HACs)

Patient falls are considered a preventable Hospital-Acquired Condition (HACs). This resource provides a scorecard for falls and other HACs.

Bed Alarms Effectiveness

Bed alarms are a common approach to fall prevention in hospitals, but this cluster-randomized trial raises significant doubts about their effectiveness.

Johns Hopkins Fall Risk Assessment Tool (JHFRAT)

The Johns Hopkins Fall Risk Assessment Tool (JHFRAT) is an evidence-based tool to determine a patient’s fall risk. This resource provides details on the JHFRAT and how to use it in practice.

Demographic Information and Risk Factors

View extensive details surrounding patient falls, including demographic information, risk factors, and patient activity surrounding the incident.

Occurrence Rates of Patient Falls

Patient falls are a common problem. This study looks at the occurrence rates of different types of patient falls, including falls with injury.

Safety Scores from the Leapfrog Group

Safety scores from the Leapfrog Group provide insight into a given hospital’s record of prioritizing patient safety.

Hospital-Acquired Pressure Injuries

Hospital-Acquired Pressure Injuries are complicated and occur at different levels of severity. NPIAP definitions outline the differences between different kinds of pressure injuries.

Joint Commission Guidelines

The Joint Commission provides guidelines on preventing and managing Hospital-Acquired Pressure Injuries, including how to assess risk, identify injuries early, and how to manage them once they develop.

The Braden Scale

The Braden Scale is considered the gold standard for evaluating a patient’s risk of developing a pressure injury. This source breaks down the different elements of the scale and how to implement them in practice.

Risk in Rehabilitation Patients

Rehabilitation patients are at increased risk of falling for a variety of reasons. This article looks into why a significant portion of US rehab facilities experience higher than average fall rates.

Fall Prevention in Rehabilitation

It is especially crucial to prevent falls in rehabilitation patients to not set back their recovery. This article offers tips and considerations for decreasing risk with the unique needs of these patients.

Consequences of Falls in Rehab Patients

Patient falls have detrimental consequences in all settings, but especially in rehabilitation facilities. This journal article looks at the consequences of patient falls in rehab patients.

Long Term Care Facilities

Long Term Care facilities like nursing homes have unique needs when it comes to fall prevention. This study looks at staff perspectives on best practices to address resident falls.

STEADI Program Adaptation

This resource adapts some broader fall risk reduction tools, like the STEADI program, for better use in an LTC environment.

Nursing Home Falls Fact Sheet

This fact sheet provides useful data around falls in nursing homes, including their prevalence, causes, and some helpful methods for addressing them.

Cybersecurity for Rural Hospitals

Microsoft’s Cybersecurity for Rural Hospitals Program provides assessments, training, discounts, and other resources to help rural health facilities help protect their healthcare infrastructure.

National Rural Health Resource Center

The National Rural Health Resource Center provides resources to help rural healthcare facilities improve the quality of the patient care they provide.

Funding Opportunities for Rural Hospitals

Browse funding and grant opportunities tailored to rural hospitals and healthcare facilities and the unique challenges they face.