Date of Award
Summer 2022
Project Type
Thesis
College or School
CHHS
Department
Nursing
Departments (Collect)
Nursing
Program or Major
Nursing
Degree Name
Master of Science
First Advisor
Elizabeth Evans
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Patients in hospitals are at a high risk for falls. There are many reasons for this, but one common reason is that patients in hospitals spend a lot of time being inactive. The less time patients spend being mobile, the less capable they are of maintaining mobility and the more likely they are to fall. During the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, Wildcat Hospital experience their fall rates increase two- to three-fold on inpatient units.
METHODS: This quality improvement project was guided by the Plan, Do, Study, Act (PDSA) framework to improve nurse knowledge of mobility and falls data, the importance of patient mobilization, and the implementation of this knowledge. A pre- and post-intervention survey (Appendix A) was used to determine the efficacy of the intervention.
INTERVENTIONS: A brief educational presentation informed nurses and nursing aids of national and unit-specific hospital falls data. The presentation also covered primary reasons why patients fall in hospitals and how increasing patient mobilization can benefit patients and reduce the occurrence of falls. Methods of incorporating mobility into existing practice were also offered.
RESULTS: Nursing staff scored dramatically better on most of the topics that were covered in the brief presentation. Scores on many of the topics that were not addressed remained generally unchanged or had limited improvement.
CONCLUSION: Nurses were able to learn most of the information that was presented in the 5-minute presentation while minimizing the impacts on nurses and patients. The acquisition of knowledge also indicates that nurses were more likely to utilize the information to encourage and assist patients to mobilize more frequently. Increasing mobilization has been shown to improve patient health and reduce falls. Future studies should assess the effectiveness of brief presentations on the number of times patients are mobilized and the impact on fall rates.
Recommended Citation
Langley, Thomas, "LET’S GET MOVING TO REDUCE FALLS: NURSES INCREASE PATIENT MOBILIZATION AFTER BRIEF TRAINING" (2022). Master's Theses and Capstones. 1604.
https://scholars.unh.edu/thesis/1604