Problem identification
Falls in the oncological units is a common phenomenon considering the older patients are already frail and weak owing to their advanced age. This combined with the chemotherapy protocols and medications weaken the patients longer making them candidates for falls, which may result in severe injuries, which interfere with their health outcomes (Vonnes, and Wolf, 2017).
An investigation into the problem
Patients fall in the oncology units is a matter of concern going by the existing statistics. According to Wildes et al (2015), the older population is at more risk of falling with one in three older adults falling each year. Patients’ falls interfere with the promotion of healthier outcomes among this faction of the population as 10 percent of all the falls result in severe injuries. These statistics are likely to rise in the near future considering that cancer infections are most likely to rise by up to 67 % by 2030.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Analysis into the state of the situation
Falls in the oncology department is high as most of the patients are not willing to seek help when getting out of their beds. These patients think that they are in a position to move around on their own, as they do not realize that the cancer treatments take a toll on their health and energy. Moreover, the situation is made worse by the fact that the patients’ relatives attempt to help the patients to move around without realizing that the patients require specialized attention. According to Vonnes and Wolf (2017), patients and their relatives are not aware of how their impulsive behaviors contribute to their falls. As a result, one in every three oncological patients becomes a fall candidate, which implicates negatively on their general health outcomes.
Proposal for solutions
There are several solutions that can be adapted to reduce the chances of falling in oncological units’ patients. One of the solutions is ‘call before you fall’. In this case, a patient is given a phone-like gadget with buttons, which the patient presses whenever they want to get out of bed. This solution is effective since it is easy to use; the patient only to press it whenever he or she needs assistance to move out of bed. Another solution that may help reduce falls is educating the patients on medications, which increase the likelihood of falling. This solution is justifiable as patients who are aware of these medications are more likely to seek help before getting out of bed and thus reduce falls rates.
Recommendations on the resources to implement the innovation
The stakeholders will need to incur costs to obtain several resources to enhance the implementation of the education of patients and their families as well as the ‘call before you fall’ solution. The costs associated with the innovation include procurement of brochures, posters and ‘call before you fall’ gadgets for all the patients in the oncology units. The implementation team will conduct training for its nurses on how to handle the patients when moving in and out of their beds and bathrooms. The implementing team estimates that it will require about $10 million to cater for all the costs. In the end, the oncology unit will experience less falls, which will, in turn, reduce the costs associated with rehabilitating the fall victims.
Implementation timeline
The adoption of ‘call before you fall’ health solution will take effect in two months’ time. The implementing team will undergo training for three weeks after which they will conduct a pilot study for the next three weeks. After this, the team will source for the gadgets, which will be implemented in the third month. From here, the team will be involved in weekly assessment and evaluation to determine the effectiveness of the innovation. Education on medication will be done alongside the implementation of the gadgets to enforce their effectiveness.
Stakeholder analysis
Implementation of solutions to reduce falls in the oncology units will require the collaboration of nursing professionals, hospital administrators, patients, and their families. The nursing professionals will spend more time with the patients and they will affect the solutions. The hospital administrators will help to secure the gadgets and training materials. The patients will need to know their role in ensuring their safety while the patient's families will encourage the patients to seek assistance to reduce falls (Vonnes and Wolf, 2017). Stakeholder engagement provided significant feedback on the best solutions to reduce fall in the oncological units as well as the role of each of the stakeholders. The patients and their families indicated that they understood the need for professionals to help the patients move around and would support the implementation. The administrators promised to work with the nursing staff to ensure that the implementation fell within the stipulated timeline. The engagement with the stakeholders will continue during the implementation stage where the stakeholders will be required to give feedback on the effectiveness of the proposal. The stakeholders will post their feedback on the institution’s website so that the implementing team is able to track the reception of the proposal. The implementing team will hold regular meetings with all the stakeholders to find out if there are loopholes that need to be addressed and the best way to address the loopholes.
Implementation and evaluation of the innovation
The team will conduct prior research to determine whether the innovation has worked in other institutions. From here, the team will try the innovation with 20 patients to determine the effectiveness of the innovation in the pilot study phase. During this phase, the implementing team will ensure that all patients and their families are aware of how the innovation works through educating them. The implementing team will then implement the proposal within the first month of the pilot study outcome. The ‘call before you fall’ gadgets will be fixed in all the oncology departments. Additionally, the patients will be guided on how to use the gadgets. From here, the team will appoint nurses in charge to ensure that someone is available to assist the patients at all times. Once the proposal is implemented, the implementing team will conduct regular assessments to determine the proposal’s efficiency. The feedback will be used to help the team to make adjustments to improve the proposal.
How the nurse fulfilled her role as a scientist, a detective, and a manager of the healing environment
The nurse acted in the capacity of a scientist by researching on the common causes of oncology patients and offered innovative solutions to reduce the falls. The nurse played the role of a detective by using her clinical imagination to determine the effects the innovation will have on reducing patient falls. Finally, the nurse has acted as the manager of the healing environment as she has manipulated the oncological unit design to reduce the patients and nurses stress and anxiety levels.
References
Vonnes, C., & Wolf, D. (2017). Fall risk and prevention agreement: engaging patients and families with a partnership for patient safety. BMJ Open Quality, 6(2), e000038.
Wildes, T. M. et al. (2015). Systematic review of falls in older adults with cancer. Journal of Geriatric Oncology, 6(1), 70–83.
