Edmonson Psychiatric Fall Risk Assessment Tool: A Case Study

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).

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

In week 7 we had visited Wesburn Manor, the Long-term Care (Clinical Placement) setting. It was our first time there, therefore as a group, we oriented the place. At this time, we went to each nursing station on each floor and introduced ourselves from the organization we were from and how we will be providing patient care to the clients in this setting. We were educated by our clinical instructor on the different access codes in the building, the policies and guidelines, our assigned floor and the appointed personal support worker. Our role of professionalism as a nursing student was represented as we came prepared and greeted each healthcare and staff member. From the professional standards, I have learned throughout my clinical

Depression is a common mental disorder, characterized by sadness, loss of interest or pleasure, having the feelings of guilt or low self-worth, having disturbed sleep or appetite, or feelings of tiredness, and having poor concentration. Fear of falling is also a commonly reported specific phobia in older adults that can develop in adulthood (Wolitzky-Taylor et al., 2010; Mohlman et al., 2012). Depression

The policy and procedure to be examined presents guidelines for both preventing and documenting falls in an acute care setting. This policy is to be used daily and with every patient in a hospital setting.

There is only one approach in psychology that studies thoughts, feelings and behaviour. The biological approach believes that the way we are is due to our genetics and physiology. They believe that the activity going on our nervous system’s is what affects the way we think, feel and behave (Sammons, 2009). The physiology in the biological approach looks into how the brain functions. The brain is a very complicated machine as such, the brain is what controls our every move, every feeling and every action. There are 3 different methods used to study the brain; neuro surgery, electroencephalograms and brains scans. Neuro surgery is used as a last resort as brain surgery is so dangerous, the nervous system can also be studied by surgery on the brain. Electroencephalograms is where electrodes are attached to the scalp and the brain waves are monitored. Brain scans can involve the CAT scan, PET scan. Both scans enable constant pictures to be provided during mental activity (McLeod,

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

The clinical practice guidelines that were selected for this paper are from the National Guideline Clearinghouse and from International journal of nursing studies. The Hendrich Fall Risk Model was primarily developed as a predictive nursing assessment tool based on epidemiological research (NGC, 2011). The Guidelines were developed by the Hartford Institute for Geriatric Nursing the committee was however not stated. Authors were asked to sign confidentiality documents and all the authors agreed this. The research was conducted by hand searches of public literature and searches of electronic database. The guidelines were developed by reviewing published meta- analysis and systematic reviews making it the strongest evidence however, the method used to formulate the recommendations was that of a level I to an expert consensus which is a level IV. The guidelines were validated by an external peer review. All recommendations for this guideline was tagged by the level of evidence and linked with scientific evidence. The limitation that were evident in this study was that its intended users were immediate healthcare providers in the hospital settings and not those in the out- patient healthcare

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.

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.

Hourly rounding and patient falls was a study that was conducted to see if hourly rounding was an effective fall prevention strategy. The study involved 2 units. The first unit leadership and staff were involved from the very beginning and the 2nd unit received training just prior to the program being initiated. Rounds were completed every 1 hour between 0600-2200 and very two hours between 2200-0600. Falls on unit one reduced significantly. Staff voiced positive results and felt they had time to complete patient care, call light times were reduced and recommended the program be initiated on different units. On unit 2 no significant reduction in falls was noted. Staff did not have the same positive attitude toward the program. The conclusion was that hourly rounding was an effective fall prevention program if leadership was involved

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

“Medications that impact the central nervous system and alter (slow down) they way our nerves think and our reflexes respond can put patients’ at risk during physical therapy and certainly at risk for falls”. ( http://www.physicaltherapy.com 2015)