Fall Prevention as a Health Challenge Among Elderly Surgical Patients - Essay Example

"Fall Prevention as a Health Challenge Among Elderly Surgical Patients" is a wonderful example of a paper on surgery and rehabilitation.

Fall prevention is a health issue of concern due to the prevalence of health challenges among elderly surgical patients. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) gives effective fall prevention strategies through resources and examples (Zhao et al., 2019). Evidence-based practices have helped implement some of the proposed and approved interventions provided by the CDC and other healthcare organizations like the World Health Organization (WHO) (Zhao et al., 2019). Some of the current fall prevention interventions are the implementation of a fall task force and post-fall huddle forms (Radecki et al., 2018). Recently, scholars have argued that the introduction of patient-centered approaches and alarms at the beds and exits can effectively reduce the fall rates among the elderly in inpatient surgical units.

PICO Question

Among the elderly in inpatient surgical units, the implementation of patient-centered interventions and alarm tools at the beds and exits reduces the rates of falls compared to current practices.

Introduction

The work of health care units is to provide medical care to patients and ensuring that they live healthy lives (Zhao et al., 2019). Therefore, fall prevention interventions for patients in inpatient surgical units are essential in ensuring that the elderly are protected from injuries that may worsen their health status. When the prevalence of fall patients is high, this contributes to an increased need for healthcare, leading to hospitals' congestions and increased costs to hospitals (Radecki et al., 2018). Therefore, fall prevention programs are essential in eliminating various risk factors o falls and enabling health care providers to focus on other health issues. Furthermore, the program also lengthens the lives of the patients by ensuring they are not exposed to hazardous situations.

Patient/ Population of Interest

Elderly patients in inpatient surgical units are prone to fall hazards due to their age and disease condition. Reports have indicated that around 30% of elderly surgical patients fall at least once every year (Zhao et al., 2019). Therefore, it is essential to establish approaches that can be used in the fall prevention initiative and safeguard the welfare of the elder patients in inpatient surgical units (Radecki et al., 2018). The population is more vulnerable to fall menace, and thus the approaches established should be oriented towards them.

Intervention of Interest

Scholars and other experts have agreed that the establishment of patient-centered fall prevention approaches and the installation of alarms at the exits and beds in the surgical wards will be more convenient among elderly patients (Radecki et al., 2018). These approaches are significant following that they are established and implemented at the convenience of the target population, thereby increasing usability and enhancing the effectiveness and achievement of the desired outcomes.

Comparison of Interest

The fall task force and post-fall huddle forms have been among the most common approaches used by healthcare providers in the fall prevention initiative (Radecki et al., 2018). However, several studies have indicated that the effectiveness of these strategies is not consistent, and therefore, the desired outcomes are not appropriately achieved (Zhao et al., 2019). Furthermore, the beds and exit alarms can be easily used by the patients without consultation, making it more convenient for the target population.

Outcome of Interest

Upon successful implementation of the proposed intervention, the anticipated outcome is that the fall rates among elderly patients in surgical units will reduce (Radecki et al., 2018). Furthermore, the study also expects that the patients and the healthcare providers will be satisfied with the intervention following that it serves the general interest of the vulnerable population. The intervention will probably help in the accomplishment of the desired outcomes.

In conclusion, the context illustrates the PICO (T) question: among the elderly in inpatient surgical units, can the implementation of patient-centered interventions and alarm tools at the beds and exits reduce the rates of falls compared to the current practices. The PICO question and the identified problem statement are robust and can sufficiently drive the research.