Reduce falls through standardization, awareness and more
By Dana Wade, DNP, RN, CNS-BC, CPHQ, NEA-BC
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Dana Wade, DNP, RN, CNS-BC, CPHQ, NEA-BC
Throughout the years, Cleveland Clinic’s Stanley Shalom Zielony Institute for Nursing Excellence has worked diligently to enhance its falls prevention strategies. Just one year ago, Cleveland Clinic launched a new and highly successful falls prevention steering committee, inclusive of caregivers from dozens of areas throughout the health system – from pharmacy to environmental services.
Cleveland Clinic has a number of standardized falls prevention initiatives, including falls prevention protocols, product resources to assist in preventing falls and assist with patient mobility, screening patients at high risk for falls in the electronic medical record (EMR) system, patient education materials, and caregiver fall risk management education.
The falls prevention steering committee is currently working on several additional prevention initiatives, including implementation of a high fall risk signage change, communication to raise caregiver awareness, reduced fields for reporting patient falls events, and a patient ‘My Safety Plan’ to engage patients and families.
And, thanks to strong leadership and focused caregiver effort, Cleveland Clinic consistently outperforms national benchmarks for areas such as: ‘total falls’ and ‘falls with any injury.’
Throughout all of its work in the area of falls prevention, Cleveland Clinic has realized several lessons learned. Below is a selection of tips that nursing organizations may find helpful when looking for ways to improve falls prevention strategies.
Dana Wade is the Associate Chief Nursing Officer of Nursing Quality and Practice for the Cleveland Clinic Health System and Cleveland Clinic Main Campus.
Photo credit ©Russell Lee
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