Orthostatic Hypotension

Falls result in decrease of quality of care through decline in functional ability, fear, restricted activities, and serious injury (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2014).

Review the measurements in the CBC. For each abnormal value, describe what physiological effect it might have on the patient. Connect each of your descriptions to one or more of the symptoms Harold has been experiencing.

The Edmonson Psychiatric Fall Risk Assessment Tool (EPFRAT) to have higher sensitivity in assessing fall risk in the geri-psychiatric population (Edmonson et. al, 2011). This project of EPFRAT will let the progress of a fall risk prevention protocol to provide the safest environment and best quality of care possible for the geriatric psychiatric inpatient.

Falls of critically ill patients admitted to the ICU routine should be avoided developing certain strategies used outside this area, such as prevention of displacement, promote stability, elimination of sliding hazards routinely ensure that the patient is oriented to the environment and the bell is at the fingertips, keeping the beds in the lowest position and braking, providing adequate lighting, and provide anti-slip footwear and technical assistance in lifting patients bed. The response time of the call prolonged ringing patient or family is just one of the potential causes of falls, firstly because if the response time is greater serve their needs later, and partly because no response to the patient may start feeling agitated. Shift schedules nurses can be particularly effective in preventing falls, as they allow the staff to anticipate and address the needs of each patient. The tubing, drains and cables must be securely to prevent tripping when lifting or embody patients. Although falls can happen without warning, subsequent falls can be avoided if the etiology of them is

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), each year, one third of those who are 65 and older fall (2013). These falls contributed to $34 billion in direct medical costs in 2013 (cite). With these statistics, it is apparent that health care professionals and health care settings need to make fall prevention a priority in their facilities. The aim of this paper is to explore a fall prevention policy and practice guidelines to evaluate recent evidence and offer recommendations.

This program, called the Nijmegen Falls Prevention Program, included one hundred thirteen elderly clients with a history of falls. Exercise sessions were held twice a week for five weeks with fall monitoring done before and after the experiment. Control assessments were also done continuously thru the study to determine client changes in standing balance, balance confidence, and obstacle avoidance skills. The results of the Nijmegen Falls Prevention Program showed that the number of falls within the exercise group dropped by a significant forty six percent! Not only less falls, but obstacle avoidance skills dramatically improved as did balance

Some of the databases that were searched for information about my PICOT questions were not directly related to patients in long-term care facilities. The Databases that were searched included CINAHL, National Guideline Clearing House, Ovid, and EBSCO, articles related to my PICOT was found on National Guideline Clearing House and Ovid. Some of the key words that were used during the search were Hendrich II fall risk tool, fall in Long-term care facilities, Geriatric falls, fall prevention and predicting fall. National Guideline Clearing (www.guideline.gov) produced about ten results directly related to the content in the PICOT question and CINAHL had thirty nine results.

Teamwork builds up the ability of nurses and other healthcare providers to implement higher quality and a more holistic care. In this essay, firstly, I am going to discuss about teamwork in nursing. Secondly, I am going to talk about the importance of teamwork within nurses and other healthcare providers. Thirdly, I am going to discuss about the benefits of having teamwork and proper delegation needed among nurses. And lastly, using Singapore nursing board, code of ethics and professional conduct that direct to this clinical situation. I will also discuss on how this clinical situation could be done differently.

This essay will reflect on my personal experience, skills, and knowledge gained from my studies and practice of undertaking blood pressure (Bp) whilst completing my professional placement.

Hence, the role of a community physiotherapist can include making a referral to an occupational therapist (WCPT, 2003) as he or she could help in assessing and modifying the home environment to make it an elderly friendly apartment. Apart from physiotherapists, occupational therapists can also help in facilitating the patient’s safety. In addition, the bathroom which is the location of the fall should be assessed and identified for any hazards to prevent future falls. A study by Cumming et al. (1999), it was shown that occupational therapists were able to impede future falls in the elderly by visiting the patients’ homes so that the patients will be able to live safely. Further interventions include home modifications which can also result in positive behaviour outcomes. The intervention had shown to be statistically significantly better in the intervention group (36%) had than the control group (45%) with a decreasing percentage of subjects who had fallen. Together with the prescribed home exercise programme and home modification for safety, these interventions can decrease the rate and risk of future falls (Gillespie et al.,

I enjoyed reading your post. I would like to expand on your post about promoting interprofessional collaborative care with occupational therapy. Care coordination is dependent on a deliberate organization of patient care activities between two or more participants, including the patient (Moyers & Metzler, 2014). As you mention, accountable care organizations and patient-centered medical homes are excellent examples that benefit from interprofessional collaboration.

literature review and includes a post fall assessment (PFA). Post fall huddles (PFHs) are discussed within the Fall Prevention Program, however, they are not consistently used. The PFA currently captures information discussed in the literature including intrinsic and extrinsic factors and includes the physical attributes of the patient, and extrinsic environmental factors. In a cyclic process, patients are assessed for fall risk. If a patient is found at risk, he/she is placed on the hospital’s “Fall Prevention Protocol.” Any change in status triggers the need for a reassessment of fall risk. Once a patient is determined to be at risk for falls and is placed on the “Fall Prevention Protocol,”

Getting out of bed is one of the dangerous things that the elderly patients do when they are admitted in the hospital. Study conducted by Ambrose, Paul & Hausdorff, (2013) on patient falls reveals that a majority of falls in the elderly patients occur between 0700 and 1900, especially when they are getting out of bed to use the rest room. The cause of their falls is mainly due to unsteady gait, memory loss, confusion that comes with age.

Significance of the Problem for Nursing: Prevention of falls in the elderly is an extremely important facet of nursing. Elderly falls often result in fractures, pain, decreased mobility, traumatic hemorrhages, as well as increased healthcare costs. Due to the increased prevalence of injuries acquired from elderly falls, increased risk of morbidity in the elderly experiencing falls, and the growing number of elderly patients, it is of vast importance that nurses research and incorporate evidence-based fall prevention practices to prevent falls in the elderly

Orthostatic hypotension has many etiologies but the baseline is that it is generally caused by a dysautonomic syndrome, drugs, volume depletion or a combination of a variety of factors.