Reducing Postpartum Maternal Falls: A Quality Improvement Project

Falls are an unfortunate, common occurrence in the healthcare system and are often not thought to be a problem in the obstetrics population. Key stakeholders in a Northern California hospital brought the issue of maternal falls to leaders of the quality improvement team on the maternity unit. In the last three years, there have been 23 falls on the maternity floor, making their fall rate above the national average. It is the purpose of this project to aid the quality improvement team in reducing postpartum maternal falls over the next three years. After conducting a unit assessment, performing a literature review, shadowing nurses on the floor, and identifying trends within the fall data, it was determined there is not one clear-cut solution to preventing falls. Staff education was implemented to cover a compilation of factors associated with falls, specifically focusing on policy reinforcements, patient education, and the proper use of assistive devices and fall risk assessment scales. The intervention was measured through a post-survey that assessed learning, and by the number of falls that occurred post-education. Three falls occurred in the postpartum unit during the short period (one month) after education, which demonstrates the need for level IV hands on education. This project brought awareness to staff members, and made recommendations to key stakeholders