Patient Falls Initiative - Safe
Room Set-up to Reduce Patient Falls
Environmental interventions implemented include the use of assistive
equipment such as walkers and bedside commodes and adopting safe room
set-ups (SRSU). For the safe room set-up module, education is provided
on components of a ‘safe room set-up’ and walking rounds are made to
assess and provide feedback on whether the conditions and arrangement of
patient rooms, equipment and furniture maximize safety for patients at
risk for falls, including:
-
Lighting: Are lights bright and glare-free? Are there automatic night
lights present?
-
Equipment: Are IV poles and electrical/monitoring cords secured out of
the way, on the non-exit side of the bed?
-
Flooring: Is it slip resistant and free of spills & clutter?
-
Furniture: Is it stable and out of the ambulation route? Is the
bedside table on the non-exit side of the bed? Are all wheels locked?
Is one bedrail down on the exit side of bed and is the bed in the low
position?
A
universal set of SRSU precautions that should be in place for all
patients regardless of risk level was established by consensus of the
group. In addition, a more comprehensive set of precautions was
established for high risk patients. Hospitals have implemented the safe
room set-up precautions, educated staff and routinely audit for
adherence.
This project also enabled the hospitals to acquire and trial further
assistive and protective equipment such as: non-slip floor mats,
automatic motion sensing lights, bedside commodes, walkers, hip pads,
and enclosure beds for extremely high risk patients. Staff members have
been educated on the availability of such equipment and how to use these
devices to help prevent falls and reduce injury.
Results
-
Safe Room Set-Up (SRSU) is in place at three hospitals and audits are
routinely performed.
-
Staff members, including Environmental and Food & Nutrition staff,
have been trained on SRSU.
-
The percent of patient rooms in compliance with this comprehensive set
of measures is up to 97%.
-
Two organizations have expanded SRSU to all units and the other is
working to do so.
-
Nurses and other support staff have been trained on, have access to
and are providing patients with assistive and protective equipment
such as walkers, bedside commodes, hip pads, bed alarms, etc.
|
About Us
|
Members |
Patients |
Providers |
Projects |
|
Publications |
Resources |
Contact
Us |
| HOME | |
