Season 2 - Episode 8: Falls & Falls Prevention with Kim Young

What if you or a loved one goes into the hospital for a treatable condition only to end up with a completely unrelated health problem while admitted? It happens and is a perennial issue. Almost one-million Americans experience falls in the healthcare systems every year.

In this episode of GuideWire, Devin Hubbard with FastTraCS talks to Kim Young, Clinical Senior Management Engineer in the Office of Quality Excellence and Performance Improvement at UNC Health, about falls and preventing them. 

Today’s Topics Include:

• Quality Coach: Why falls matter to Kim - it’s a really big, persistent problem
• Fiscal Year: Out of 850 falls, ~20% were injured and had to be treated because of fall
• Fall Defined: Anytime somebody hits the floor when assisted or not
• Financial Impact: Extending length of stay and who covers costs is a concern
• Who falls? Assessment is conducted for patient factors that predispose them to falls
• Where do patients fall in hospitals? All over, but mostly when going to the bathroom
• Why do patients fall then? Want to maintain independence, mobility, and privacy
• Ways to proactively prevent falls: Accompany and assess patient, use of alarms/aids
• Rounds/Telesitter: Ask, remind patients if they want help; time consuming and laborious
• What’s needed? Some type of technology or way patients don’t get injured due to falls
• Future of Falls: Improvement and innovation is needed for more elegant solutions     

Links and Resources:

Devin Hubbard

Kim Young - FastTraCS Clinical Advisory Group 

FastTraCS

GuideWire Podcast on Twitter

GuideWire Podcast 

U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

National Database of Nursing Health Quality Indicators

Telesitter

Quotes:

“Falls is a global problem. It’s a problem for people at home.” 

“Despite the pain and suffering, there are reasons why we prevent falls.”

“Leave your privacy at the door. You just have to let us help you.”

“Seeing the nursing staff when they do have a patient that falls and injures themselves, it’s deeply disturbing.”