Overview of the Statement of Problem
The subject of falls is not limited to medical institutions as according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), falls have become endemic to the American population. These falls have led not only to fatal and grievous injuries but also medical costs estimated at over US$35 billion annually. Hospitals, however, should be safe places where patients can receive treatment and recover from their illness without inordinate risks of secondary injury and harm. According to AHRQ. (2013), up to one million falls take place in American hospitals annually. It must be noted that the physical and psychological circumstances relating to patients within a hospital create a higher risk for falling. Hospitals must, therefore, take active steps to ensure that patient falls within the hospital are reduced and their severity mitigated.
Ignorance is the leading cause of falls in the hospital creating the need for enlightenment as one of the foundations for mitigating the problem. According to Kuhlenschmidt et al. (2016) research has shown that enlightening the patients about the existence of falls as an issue as and when they are in the hospital, effectively reduces the instances of falls. From a clinical perspective, some patients fall because their conditions do not allow for them to be moving about unassisted or at all. From a care perspective, some patients who ought not to be moving unaided end up doing so because either their needs are not being properly met in reality or by perception. Finally, the surfaces in the hospital or objects left lying around can also lead to falls and have to be included in the solution to be developed.
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Overview and Justification of Team Members
Prevention of patient falls will take the combined efforts of all stakeholders within the hospital from the clients who are the patients and their loved ones, administration, the nursing officers, physicians and support staff. However, the nursing staff will play a larger role in the holistic care of the patients fall under the ambit of care. If a patient requires some form of aid to walk, that is care obligation. Some patients will fall because they are psychologically unsettled because of the burden of illness or they are in pain which also requires care. Finally, patients may fall as they seek to accomplish duties that would otherwise have fallen to nursing officers. It is on this basis that a nursing officer is the team leader and sponsor and also nurses dominate the team. Physicians are included because of the part they play both on prevention of falls and mitigation in the case falls happen. It is within the area of operations of physicians to establish the patients whose conditions or prescriptions create a higher risk for falls. Instructions from physicians will enable caregivers to handle patients appropriately to avoid falls. An administrative officer has been included in the team to enable coordination between the different teams. Finally, the janitorial expert is included because of the secondary issues that cause falls in hospitals such as slippery surfaces and spills.
Overview of the Goal and Scope
The goal as outlined in the charter has two main components the first being reducing instances of falls and the second being reducing the severity of the falls. Whereas it might not be possible to eliminate falls, the kind of falls that might result in a fatality cannot be condoned . Indeed, the issue incident and severity are intertwined in that the few falls that may happen must not be of a fatal nature such as a fall down the staircase or a fall from bed by a patient who has just had a sensitive surgery. This understanding informs the basis for the project scope which can be outlined as ensuring minimum injury, damage, and liability from falls. Different activities shall be undertaken within the project, but all will be geared towards achieving this goal.
Overview of the Measures
The obligation to ensure that falls are reduced and mitigated upon is shared by all the stakeholders, but they may not be aware of the same. Enlightenment, therefore, takes center stage in the intended measures. The hospital staff members have respective parts to play, and they need to be enlightened about the same. The kind of training that the caregivers need will vary from the one physicians or support staff need, yet they are all working towards the same goals. Finally, the caregivers will also become instructors to the patients on the subject of falls towards which they will need training. Over and above the training, active measures to eliminate falls includes ensuring that all surfaces that patients walk on or hold onto are safe. Patients should not feel the need to move about as all their needs will have been met to their satisfaction. Finally, steps are taken to ensure that all patients who should not be moving at all remain immobile, and those who require aid such as clutches and wheelchairs have the same provided for them.
Draft Agenda
The draft agenda is limited to the first meeting where the way forward in the project will be established . With the project sponsor being a nursing officer, the theoretical planning will require acquiescence with or without adjustments from the multidisciplinary committee. Issues such as feasibility and timelines will also be agreed upon within the meeting. The main segment of the agenda is the open discussion since the team members need to develop a sense of ownership of the project.
Schedule
The timeframe of 30 days is based on the agency of the matter and also because most of the steps to be undertaken do not involve procurement or complex processes. Further, the modest size of the hospital, which has only 100 beds, increases the feasibility of the project within the limited timeframe. Monitoring shall be carried out contemporaneously with the project, but an allowance has been made for active evaluation after six months to ensure the effectiveness of the program.
References
AHRQ. (2013, January 31). Preventing Falls in Hospitals. Retrieved January 20, 2018, from https://www.ahrq.gov/professionals/systems/hospital/fallpxtoolkit/index.html
Houry, D., Florence, C., Baldwin, G., Stevens, J., & McClure, R. (2016). The CDC Injury Center’s response to the growing public health problem of falls among older adults. American journal of lifestyle medicine , 10 (1), 74-77
Kuhlenschmidt, M. L., Reeber, C., Wallace, C., Chen, Y., Barnholtz-Sloan, J., & Mazanec, S. R. (2016). Tailoring Education to Perceived Fall Risk in Hospitalized Patients with Cancer: A Randomized, Controlled Trial. Clinical journal of oncology nursing , 20 (1)
