Prevention of Patient Falls among Elderly In-Patients - Essay Example

Patient falls present a significant physical health risk to the patient. The complications that arise from patient falls incur significant hospital costs to both the patient and the hospital. Additionally, health care institutions could face a lawsuit with concomitant legal implications. Research has shown that patient falls within health care institutions in an occurrence that needs to be utmost consideration. Patient falls are considered one of the geriatric problems that threaten the independence of the elderly. Based on proper assessment tools the outcome of the proposed solution can be evaluated and areas of improvement noted. In lieu of this, patient education, early identification of risk factors, adequate staffing, and multidisciplinary approach are a package of a proposed solution to preventing patient falls. If implemented, a marked reduction in the incidence and prevalence of patient falls among the elderly can be achieved. Dissemination of evidence is important to key stakeholders of the change program. The dissemination strategies include publications in journals, reports, reviews; presentations at Continuous Medical Education sessions, seminars, and conferences; and one-to-one discussions with the patient and family members.

Problem Statement
Patient falls present a significant physical health risk to the patient. Additionally, the complications that arise from patient falls incur significant hospital costs to both the patient and the hospital. The patient would have to incur extra costs for the management of the complications of the falls, whereas the hospital would put forth extra resources necessary for the management of potential complications of the fall. Besides, health care institutions could face a lawsuit with concomitant legal implications.

For instance, Snijders, Van de Warrenburg, Giladi, and Bloem (2010), observe that gait disorders are prevalent among the elderly can present devastating health outcomes such as reduced quality of life, increased incidence of falls, and increase in mortality. Neurological diseases diagnosed in elderly patients exist with other clinical conditions. Lauretani, et al. (2014) posits that Alzheimer’s disease in the elderly could present with extrapyramidal signs mimicking Parkinsonism in the setting of dementia. This influences admission to a nursing home for care (Lauretani, et al., 2014). Significantly, this would influence the pattern of falls among the elderly. Moreover, increased cholesterol levels among the aged are associated with a higher risk for the development of stroke syndromes (Reiss, Sille, Rahman, Chan, Ghiso, & Leon, 2011).