A Retrospective Study of Fall Prevention Programs in Geriatric Nursing Facilities

The purpose of this study was to identify the differences between geriatric nursing facilities with a Fall Prevention Program and geriatric nursing facilities without a Fall Prevention Program on the Total Staff Present, Medicaid reimbursement, proprietary for-profit geriatric nursing facility ownership, physical and chemical restraint use, and resident acuity. A four page survey tool was mailed to 327 Directors of Nursing who are members of a State Health Care Association, with 51 returning the completed survey tool. Descriptive and inferential statistics were performed on the data. The study findings indicated that there was no significant differences between geriatric nursing facilities with a Fall Prevention Program and geriatric nursing facilities without a Fall Prevention Program on Total Staff Present (PPD), Medicaid reimbursement, proprietary for-profit status, physical and chemical restraint use, and resident acuity. Additional analysis indicated that geriatric nursing facilities with an RN on each shift had significantly more resident falls than geriatric nursing facilities without an RN on each shift. The study found geriatric nursing facilities with a Total Staff Present (PPD) of greater than 2.7 are significantly more likely to be nonproprietary not-for-profit. A significant difference was found between nursing facilities with a high resident acuity above 5.4 and nursing facilities with a low resident acuity below 5.4 on Directors of Nursing opinion of the position of nurse manager/supervisor in reducing fall events. Reimbursement of geriatric nursing facilities is changing, making the efficiency of the nursing department more important. Directors of Nursing need to critically evaluate job tasks assigned to registered nurses and determine the most effective role of an RN in their Fall Prevention Program