Falls in Elderly Assignment

Falls in Elderly Assignment Falls in Elderly Assignment Falls are defined as an “unplanned descent to the floor” according to Salamon, Victory, & Bobay, (2012). There are different categories of falls which include accidental, anticipated physiologic falls, unanticipated falls, and intentional falls.Falls in Elderly Assignment An example of an accidental fall would be tripping over something on the floor. Anticipated falls have to do with gait imbalances and medications while unanticipated falls are like seizures and are unexpected. Finally intentional falls are when patients want to fall (Taylor, Lillis, Lynn, et al, 2015). Falls can occur at any age but the people who are more prone to falls are over the age of 65. According to Chaudhuri, Thompson, & Demiris (2014) one in every three people over the age of 65 fall on average of one time per year. Falls occur for many different reasons and have many risk factors, but most can be prevented. Falls are a safety concern because they can cause serious injuries, including fractures which could lead to infection and potentially death if infection goes untreated. If nurses identify risk factors for their patients, monitor their patients often, and assist them with mobility and therapy falls can be reduced. Fall risk increases with age, those over the age of 65 are at the greatest risk. Nearly 30-40% of people over 65 fall at least once per year. The purpose of this project is to prevent falls among elderly patients which is an issue of concern for the nurses in the Unit. A proposed solution is the implementation of bed alarm.Falls in Elderly Assignment As nurses seek to keep patients safer, a critical analysis of the literature on bed alarms is developed to introduce the proposal in the unit. Pre and posttest questionnaires were conducted to evaluate the nursing learning needs. Strong evidence to support the use of bed alarms as an early warning system was discussed such as quantitative studies done at Methodist University in Memphis Tennessee sponsored by the National Institute of Aging in 2009. This resulted with the hypothesis that patient falls will be 25 percent lower with the use of bed …show more content… Permalink: https://nursingpaperessays.com/ falls-in-elderly-assignment / Introduction The purpose of this project is to prevent falls among elderly patients which is an issue of concern for the nurses in the Unit. A proposed solution is the implementation of bed alarm.Falls in Elderly Assignment As nurses seek to keep patients safer, a critical analysis of the literature on bed alarms is developed to introduce the proposal in the unit. Pre and posttest questionnaires were conducted to evaluate the nursing learning needs. Strong evidence to support the use of bed alarms as an early warning system was discussed such as quantitative studies done at Methodist University in Memphis Tennessee sponsored by the National Institute of Aging in 2009. This resulted with the hypothesis that patient falls will be 25 percent lower with the use of bed alarms. Implementation of bed alarms requires time and money. Additional funds are needed to make the intervention possible. Funds are available through nonprofit organizations such as a capital grants and government’s grants to purchase bed alarms. This will educate the staff and cover technology costs. Various possibilities can be discussed with the nurses to maintain the success of the implementation of bed alarms in the unit to expand it to other wards. Open dialogue and continuous education are essential for the nurses.Falls in Elderly Assignment Get a 10 % discount on an order above $ 100 Use the following coupon code : NURSING10