Essay Example on Fall Prevention in the Nursing Homes

The population in nursing homes is susceptible to falls, and in some cases, they can occur accidentally particularly in their movements during the day or at night. Moreover, many falls are not reported according to the CDC. Nursing homes mostly host the elderly, and it is important to consider safety, in this case, focusing on falls which can cause increased debilitation among them (Houry et al., 2016; Basic & Hartwell, 2015). Fall prevention becomes an important undertaking since it can worsen the condition of the respective population.

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Nursing homes are important a place where the population gets to stay, and the needs met through the care given by professionals (Buckinx et al., 2018; Khanuja et al., 2018). Observation, in this case, can be done through the nursing home. This gives credence to the study of the susceptibility of the nursing home population to falls and if possible finds out the common causes of such falls.

Falls in the nursing home are quite dangerous to the wellbeing of the aged. Most of the accidents are associated with falls happening among the aged population. Such falls lead to dangerous complications or injuries to the patients as their bones are not as strong and thus they may get broken in the process. As a result, it is important to determine the cause of the falls in the nursing home. The falls and thus accidents bring about various injuries that may be quiet serious including fractures, injuries on the different body parts particularly the head and the limbs among others. Up to five percent of the elderly live in nursing homes and twenty percent of the injuries happening in them. This is an alarming number considering that there are caregivers in place to ensure the safety of the elderly.

Impact of Accidents on Elderly

The impact of such falls on the nursing home population an increase in cost in the care of the elderly to both the family and the government. Such falls are known to cause mortality among the elderly and further complications, which further increase the cost of treatment of the elderly patients (Vandenberg et al., 2017; Hanlon et al., 2018; Johnell et al., 2017). Moreover, the aged have reduced mobility, and falls may lead to reduced mobility.

Significance

It is quite important to note on the prevalence of falls that have sometimes led to mortality among the aged. Determine the causes of such falls about the condition of the nursing home population will help in coming up with solutions to prevent such falls in the future. The study is significant to nursing, as it will help in dealing with the falls among other accidents and their causes about the conditions of the aged together with the setting they are in (Petersen et al., 2018). Determining the various causes and prevention measures becomes important in nursing particularly in dealing with care giving to the elderly population.

Proposed Solution

The use of evidence-based approaches particularly the prevention of falls will further be investigated and delved into as a solution. The proposed solution involves evaluating all the elderly patients and determining their various treatments together with carrying out a cross-section study regarding the cause of the accidents and further ensuring that the elderly are monitored particularly in their movements. Moreover, railings among other safety measures will be taken, and hospital among other care settings advised to consider the different appliances used by the patients together with educating them on how to guide the elderly through railings and using technology to increase the safety of the elderly patients and even the aged who are at home. Ensuring that nurses and caregivers in nursing homes with other establishment are trained in dealing with older people and ensuring that negligence in handling them is reduced greatly (Vlaeyen et al., 2017). Moreover, the families at home having elderly people should further be given more knowledge on how to handle them to prevent avoidable circumstances like accidents that lead to injury.

References

Basic, David, & Hartwell, Tabitha J. (2015). Falls in the hospital and new placement in a nursing home among older people hospitalized with the acute illness. Dove Medical Press, doi: 10.2147/CIA.S90296

Buckinx, F., Croisier, J.-L., Reginster, J.-Y., Lenaerts, C., Brunois, T., Rygaert, X., Petermans, J., ... Bruyere, O. (January 01, 2018). Prediction of the Incidence of Falls and Deaths Among Elderly Nursing Home Residents: The SENIOR Study. Journal of the American Medical Directors Association, 19, 1, 18-24. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jamda.2017.06.014

Hanlon, J. T., Zhao, X., Naples, J. G., Aspinall, S. L., Perera, S., Nace, D. A., Greenspan, S. L., ... Greenspan, S. L. (June 01, 2017). Central Nervous System Medication Burden and Serious Falls in Older Nursing Home Residents. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 65, 6, 1183-1189. https://doi.org/10.1111/jgs.14759

Houry, D., Florence, C., Baldwin, G., Stevens, J., & McClure, R. (2016). The CDC injury center's response to the growing public health problem of falls among older adults. American journal of lifestyle medicine, 10(1), 74-77. https://doi.org/10.1177/1559827615600137

Johnell, K., Jonasdottir, B. G., Fastbom, J., Danielsson, B., Borg, N., & Salmi, P. (April 01, 2017). Psychotropic drugs and the risk of fall injuries, hospitalizations and mortality among older adults. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 32, 4, 414-420. https://doi.org/10.1002/gps.4483

Khanuja, K., Joki, J., Bachmann, G., & Cuccurullo, S. (2018). Gait and balance in the aging population: Fall prevention using innovation and technology. Maturitas, 110, 51-56. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.maturitas.2018.01.021

Petersen, J. D., Siersma, V. D., Christensen, R. D., Storsveen, M. M., Nielsen, C. T., & Waldorff, F. B. (January 01, 2018). The risk of fall accidents for home dwellers with dementia-A register- and population-based case-control study. Alzheimer's & Dementia (Amsterdam, Netherlands), 10, 421-428. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dadm.2018.05.004

Vandenberg, A. E., van Beijnum, B. J., Overdevest, V. G., Capezuti, E., & Johnson II, T. M. (2017). US and Dutch nurse experiences with fall prevention technology within nursinghome environment and workflow: A qualitative study. Geriatric nursing, 38(4), 276-282. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gerinurse.2016.11.005

Vlaeyen, E., Stas, J., Leysens, G., Van der Elst, E., Janssens, E., Dejaeger, E., ... & Milisen, K. (2017). Implementation of fall prevention in residential care facilities: A systematic review of barriers and facilitators. International journal of nursing studies, 70, 110-121.