All across the care spectrum, fall and injuries remains a significant challenge as Ganz, et al., (2013, pp. 390-396) documents. In the United States for instance, 700,000 to 1,000,000 people are documented to fall in hospitals (Kalisch, Tschannen, & Lee, 2012). A patient fall in this regard refers to an unplanned floor descent with or without resultant patient injuries. For older persons in the USA above 65years, unintentional falls account for the commonest cause of nonfatal injuries (Ambrose, Paul & Hausdorff, 2013). Additionally, accidental falls are among the commonest reported hospital incidents which complicates approximately 2% of all hospital stays (Tendas et al., 2013). Up to thirty two percent of these older persons are in this category with women experiencing more falls than males (Ambrose, Paul & Hausdorff, 2013). For this age group, fall associated deaths is the commonest cause of accidental deaths which equates to 41 deaths per 100,000 persons annually. In as much as mortality and injuries increase significantly beyond 85 years of age, male above 85 years are at a higher risk of dying from falling than females (Stenhagen, et al., 2014, pp. 95-100).
The US has witnessed a steady increase in the number of fall related deaths hitherto from 29 per 100,000 people in 1999 to the current estimates which stand at 41 deaths per 100,000 people (Ganz, et al., 2013). Documented estimates equally equate this to approximately 3 to 11 falls per 1,000 patient days (Tendas et al., 2013). Patient injuries ranges from lacerations, internal bleeding and fractures which upsurges health care use. According to Bouldin et al., (2014), approximately 25% of all falls in hospitals cause injuries with 2% resulting in fractures. Significant costs are equally associated with this documented falls which include increased care costs, lengthened hospital stays and increased liability (Bouldin et al., 2014). According to Stenhagen, et al., (2014) however, a third of this falls are preventable.
This problem was thus selected for this research due to its prevalence and the resultant consequences chief among which is death among older persons aged 65 and above. From the research, it is expected that insights into the health care issue will be obtained as well as the appraisal and documentation of evidence based solutions to the problem.
References
Ambrose, A. F., Paul, G., & Hausdorff, J. M. (2013). Risk factors for falls among older adults: a review of the literature. Maturitas, 75(1), 51-61.
Bouldin, E. D., Andresen, E. M., Dunton, N. E., Simon, M., Waters, T. M., Liu, M., & Shorr, R. I. (2013). Falls among adult patients hospitalized in the United States: prevalence and trends. Journal of patient safety, 9(1), 13.
Ganz, D. A., Huang, C., Saliba, D., Miake-Lye, I. M., Hempel, S., Ganz, D. A., & Ensrud, K. E. (2013). Preventing falls in hospitals: a toolkit for improving quality of care. Ann Intern Med, 158(5 Pt 2), 390-396.
Kalisch, B. J., Tschannen, D., & Lee, K. H. (2012). Missed nursing care, staffing, and patient falls. Journal of nursing care quality, 27(1), 6-12.
Stenhagen, M., Ekström, H., Nordell, E., & Elmståhl, S. (2014). Accidental falls, health-related quality of life and life satisfaction: a prospective study of the general elderly population. Archives of gerontology and geriatrics, 58(1), 95-100.
Tendas, A., Cupelli, L., Trawinska, M. M., Lentini, L., Giovannini, M., Scaramucci, L., & Niscola, P. (2013). Accidental falls in home care hematological patients. Supportive care in cancer, 21(8), 2087.
