Assignment: Fall Risk Assignment/Health and Illness Concept: Mobility

Assignment: Fall Risk Assignment/Health and Illness Concept: Mobility

Competencies measured in this assignment: NURSING JUDGMENT/EVIDENCE BASED CARE-NURSING JUDGMENT COMPETENCY: Identify (K), use (P), and appreciate (E) evidence based care when conducting a focused assessment, choosing nursing interventions within a plan of care, monitoring, and reporting changes in the individualized patient’s condition  across the lifespan. QUALITY IMPROVEMENT -ORGANIZATIONAL/SYSTEM: Describe (K), provide input (SOP) (P), and appreciate (E) quality improvement methods used to develop or revise policies/procedures, and effectively use resources to support organizational outcomes. SAFETY – SAFE NURSING PRACTICE:Explain (K), demonstrate (P), and value (E) safe nursing practice and the relationship between national safety campaigns and implementation in practice settings.

After reading the following articles answer the questions (scroll down webpage to find article). 

Gray-Micelli, D. (2008).  Nursing standard of practice protocol:  Fall prevention.  Retrieved from https://consultgeri.org/geriatric-topics/falls 

Hill, E., & Fauerbach, L. A. (2014). Falls and Fall Prevention in Older Adults. Journal Of Legal Nurse Consulting, 25(2), 24-29.     Retrieved from CINAHL Sept 2016

Questions	Answers
Knowledge Are falls among older adult considered a normal consequence of aging?  Explain.
What are the three types of falls?
What are some fall causes (fall etiology)?
What are some fall risk factors which you will assess your patients for?
What are some environmental fall risk factors which you will assess the facility for?  Next time you are at the clinical site, pay attention to these details.
You are working as the LPN in the nursing home and one of the residents has fallen in the bathroom and is in pain,. The pt is talking but speech is somewhat slurred.  What focused assessments will you make?
Practice What specific nursig interventions would you anticipate to be required for this patient?
To whom and what data would you communicate from your initial and ongoing focused assesments?
Which types of patients require additional safety precautions and/or specialist evaluations?
You are working in a Long Term Care facility and there have been 3 falls within the past week.  You have been selected to work with a team on a policy to reduce the risk of falls.  What general safety precautions could you suggest to add to the policy from this article? Are they evidence based?
The national patient safety goals for long term care  are posted.  How would a new policy for dealing with falls relate to the LTC National Patient Safety Goals?
Ethical Comportment Why is it important in your career as a LPN to use evidence based research when working with RN’s in developing and revising policies and procedures?
If you were working on this policy committee, what would be the value for you, as a LPN, in developing and revising policies and procedures to prevent falls for the residents?