Inpatient Fall Prevention

Fall prevention is of critical importance, especially in a hospital setting. Patients in hospital setting can be weak and sometimes can be confused, dehydrated or have dementia issues. When a patient attempts to get out of a bed or chair without assistance it can result in a fall.

Falls can cause injuries, from scrapes and bruises to serious injuries. Any of these injuries can lengthen a patient’s stay in the hospital and even recovery period after discharge.

Middlesex Hospital’s Fall Prevention Program includes an in-depth fall risk assessment of all inpatients, followed by a "tiered" fall risk patient care plan, as determined by the assessment. Patients are placed into either a no risk, a standard risk or a high risk to fall category. Patients are then "color coded" as such and certain interventions are put into place based on risk. Standard risk to fall patients are identified by yellow magnets on the patient's door. High risk to fall patients are identified by red. This helps all staff to quickly identify those patients who require higher levels of vigilance in preventing falls.

We employ a variety of techniques that have been proven to reduce the number of falls, including:

• Frequent checks by clinical staff
• Placing objects close to the patient (for example, eye glasses, telephone, television remote, etc.)
• Easy access to nurse call button
• Bed alarms that alert staff if a patient attempts to get out of bed without assistance