Title : Does the tailoring information for patient safety (Tips) Fall program compared to current practice impact fall rates?
Abstract:
Patient falls in the hospital setting continue to be a persistent and significant health problem. Each year, between 700,000 and 1,100,000 people fall during a hospitalization (Klinkenberg & Potter, 2017). Injuries resulting from falls have been linked to increased length of stay (LOS) by an average of 6.3 days and add thousands of dollars in additional costs to the hospital. The Centers for Medicaid & Medicare Services no longer reimburse for the costs associated with falls resulting in injury. The Joint Commission has included reducing harm from falls for hospitalized patients as a top National Patient Safety Goal for several years now. According to The Joint Commission, since falls account for a significant portion of injuries in hospitalized patients, it is essential for hospital nurses to assess a patient's risk for falls and take the necessary action to decrease the risk of falling and the risk of injury, should a fall occur (Klinkenberg, and Potter, 2017). Fall prevention is one of the top priorities for hospitals (Spano-Szekely et al., 2019; Zhao et al., 2019). The Morse Fall Scale is used to assess patients for falls at most healthcare institutions, but the fall prevention interventions are not tailored to the individual patient’s needs. To facilitate patient safety, the evidence-based intervention this DNP student is implementing is the Falls TIPS (Tailoring Interventions for Patient Safety) Program and Toolkit. This is an evidence-based best practice that will reduce falls (Dykes et al., 2017). The Fall TIPS Program provides a toolkit to an organization to provide fall prevention and resources that are supportive, efficient, and long-standing (Dykes et al., 2019; Fowler& Reising, 2021). In one study, the Fall TIPS Program was implemented and within the following 2-year period, there have been no reported falls with a major injury in the study unit (Fowler, & Reising, 2021).
