Reducing Falls Through an Education Intervention to Increase Nurse-Promoted Mobility in Hospitalized Patients

The aim of this project was to determine if educating registered nurses (RNs) on the importance of nurse-promoted patient mobilization could increase RN knowledge on patient mobility and reduce the rate of patient falls on a cardiology/neurology nursing unit in a southeastern area of the United States. This project was a quality improvement project with a pre-test/post-test design. The intervention included a teaching session for RNs and posted reminders. The teaching session included information on the use of a mobility algorithm, where to locate mobility equipment, and the physical therapy referral process. The reminders included flyers posted around the unit with abbreviated content covered in the teaching sessions. The Mobility Knowledge Questionnaire was used to assess the educational topics covered in the mobility teaching session. Accuracy scores out of eight were collected prior to the teaching session and four weeks following the teaching session. Mobility Knowledge Questionnaire accuracy scores improved significantly (p=.021) four weeks after the intervention. Fall rates did not improve, but rather, worsened (4.3 falls per 1,000 bed days pre- and 9.6 falls per 1,000 bed days post-intervention.) Recommendations for future quality improvement initiatives at this facility include making the mobility algorithm more accessible to RNs in addition to providing education in a format similar to what has been used in this project to determine if this tool is useful in increasing nurse-promoted mobility on this unit and impacting falls