ORIGINAL ARTICLE Decreasing inpatient falls: A retrospective analysis with clinical nurse specialist-led interventions

Objective: To identify and analyze associations between characteristics and factors collected on the ‘Post Fall Huddle/Event Report ’ form used by Nursing and Risk Management for all inpatient falls. Inpatient falls were defined as any hospitalized patient that had a fall event during their stay. Methods and materials: All inpatient falls, 17 years and older, were included within a six month period for a sample size of 182. SPSS was used for analyses to identify associative predictors. Results: When examining the number of inpatient falls post implementation of the form, the average annual number of inpatient falls decreased by 50%. Several strategies implemented by Clinical Nurse Specialists to be continued include in-depth review of circumstances surrounding the fall; education of staff for consistency in the fall protocol; and reinforcement of purposeful hourly rounding. Conclusions: Suggested associations with injury or increased length of stay included patients with elimination problems, on antihypertensive medications, a higher patient census at the time of the fall on the unit, and any other medication changes. Further revisions continue to increase the objectivity on the ’ Post Fall Huddle/Event Report ’ form