Patient Falls

Preventing Patient Falls

The primary goal of every hospital and care facility is the health and safety of their patients. While some problems, such as illness cannot be avoided, compounding illness with injuries can and should be avoided. Risks such as slipping, tripping, and falling while in the hospital are an increasing problem for hospitals. The purpose of this paper is to identify a preventable patient injury and suggest a corrective policy for the hospital to reduce the amount of incidence.

Identification of Problem

Patient falls are a growing problem in hospitals. In fact, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "In 2004, 14,900 people 65 and older died from injuries related to unintentional falls; about 1.8 million people 65 and older were treated in emergency departments for nonfatal injuries from falls, and more than 433,000 of these patients were hospitalized." (National Center for Injury Prevention...
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