Journal of Nursing and Health Studies

Thinking beyond bed alarms: a multifaceted approach to fall prevention

EuroSciCon Event on Nursing Diagnosis & Midwifery
September 10-11,2018 Prague,Czech Republic

Jaclyn Vesey

MCPHS University, USA

Posters & Accepted Abstracts: J Nurs Health Stud

DOI: 10.21767/2574-2825-C4-012

Abstract

The aim of this review is to determine the fall prevention approaches that are most effective in the long-term care setting. Fall prevention is a significant challenge in healthcare and can have life-altering effects on frail elders. Alarms have been a mainstay in nursing homes, but it remains to be proven if these are effective in fall prevention. In elderly patients in long-term care, are stand-alone interventions such as alarms as effective as multifaceted, anticipatory measures for fall prevention? Through a web-based literature search in CINAHL, PubMed, and Google Scholar, 14 studies were included in this review. These examined specific interventions, nursing perspective on fall management, the role of the nurse practitioner, and barriers to fall management implementation in the clinical setting. Alarms, rounding protocols, multi-interventional and multidisciplinary programs were discussed, with an analysis of which interventions and programs had the best patient outcomes. Alarms proved to have inconsistent results, and no singular intervention was determined to be the most effective approach. Multi-disciplinary and comprehensive patient-centered approaches to fall management resulted in positive patient outcomes.

Biography

E-mail: