No matter where you decide to travel as a nurse, you bring your skills and best practices along for the ride! Working as an ER nurse can be one of the most rewarding, yet stressful specialties out there. When it comes to providing comprehensive and quick-thinking care, these nurses are near the top of the food-chain! Still, even the best can’t always prevent accidentals falls in a split second. Here we’ll discuss some of the ways nurses are preventing patient falls in the ER in their travel assignments nationwide!
Preventing Patient Falls in the ER | 3 Tips
It’s an unfortunate statistic, but according to American Nurse Today “40 percent of falls occur within 30 minutes of a rounding visit by healthcare providers.” This is quite an alarming number and presents some questions as to how these types of injuries could be prevented. What staff were present? Were the proper hospital guidelines followed? What were the warning signs When it comes to preventing patient falls in the ER are many factors that nurses need to consider:
1. Maintain Communication Between Patients and Caregivers
In a large percentage of cases, falls occur most commonly among elderly patients and can also be the most serious. Older patients identified as fall risks rely greatly on your communication with themselves and their caregivers. Whether due to illness, medication, or a combination of both elderly patients absolutely require thorough communication to avoid serious accidents.
Sure, the ER moves quickly but that doesn’t mean someone should be without an aide or specific staff member to help with their mobility needs. If you’re short staffed and swamped, always be sure to explain where the call-button is and how to use it. Too many patient falls happen because people attempt things on their own like finding a wheelchair or related assistive devices.
Right away, patients who are a serious fall risk should be given a brightly colored wristband to alert all staff of the potential!
2. Ensure a Patient’s Room is Tidy
Once someone has been checked in to their room, it’s critical to keep the space easy to navigate. This means making sure cords and tubes don’t dangle and that there is a clear space for moving about if needed. Having a clean and open area for both the patient and their caregiver is helpful, especially if they are the ones helping with transfers.
This point is especially important for fall-risk patients who do not have a caregiver to help them. It’s all too often the case that these patients aren’t quite aware of how fragile their health might be. They’ll try to get to the bathroom on their own while some may try to wander farther distances.
Always be on the lookout for loose bed coverings, objects, slippery surfaces, and similar hazards. A pair of non-slip socks are one added safety feature that ER departments can always keep in stock and will make a huge difference when the time comes!
3. Review Each Hospital’s Transfer Policies
Transporting patients to testing areas and onto diagnostic tables is another huge area of risk to consider. If you’re still getting used to a new facility, it’s a good idea to see what resources are available to help you plan out your clinical pathways. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality has a tool which can be used or modified to meet the demands of individual ER departments. This is a great resource you can share with each new assignment you undertake!
Preventing patient falls in the ER really goes beyond the emergency room itself, and requires a comprehensive facility plan. Cooperation between all staff members and communicating with patients and their caregivers helps transfer policies function as intended!
What are your approaches for preventing patient falls in the ER? Let us know in the comments below!
