The emergency department (ED) presents a set of unique challenges for patient care, not the least of which is unstable patients who are at great risk for falls. I once heard a nurse educator proclaim: "Everyone is a fall risk in an ED." From the elderly to the acutely ill, most patients in the department are at possible risk of falling, whether due to their age, their complaint, or the medications and treatment they are receiving. Additionally, many EDs do not have bed or chair alarms available for gurneys to assist with patient falls. Fall prevention is almost solely in the hands of the busy ED nurse.
Here are six ways you can help prevent patient falls in the emergency setting.
1. Use universal falls precautions.
All patients -- from the 30-year-old with abdominal pain to the 65-year-old post–total knee replacement -- are at risk of falling. In your own practice, using universal falls precautions can be helpful. Treating all patients as though they have the same risk for falls is a good start. Additionally, performing individual fall risk assessments on each patient at the beginning of his or her visit is important to both assessing risk and documenting that risk in the medical record. If completing a falls risk assessment is not mandatory at your facility, consider printing out the Morse Fall Scale and attaching it to your ID badge for quick reference. A standardized tool can help you quickly quantify the risk of patient falls so you can intervene accordingly.
2. Plan your interventions.
My personal favorite fall prevention intervention is the call light. On patient care whiteboards in the ED rooms, I write my name and the phrase, "Please use your call bell for ANY reason" on the board. I orient patients to the call bell immediately and make sure that it is in reach. I explain to them why both side rails need to stay up. Additionally, you may place fall risk socks (or grippy non-skid socks) on your patient as soon as you get them undressed into a gown. Use a fall risk yellow arm band if they're available to you.
3. Orient your patient.
"I'm going to be your nurse today, and the best way we can work together is for you to help me keep you safe." I remind patients that even if they feel fine, that trying to get up after laying down or after receiving high-risk pain medications can cause them to feel weaker or dizzier than they might imagine. I encourage patients to use the call bell so I can help assist them out of bed for any reason, but it is also important to set expectations. "It may take me a few minutes to respond, but I will be there as soon as I can." Try to point out IV lines and oxygen tubing to patients as well as their EKG cables and monitoring leads to remind them that they will need to stay in bed and cannot get up without assistance.
4. Active toileting.
One of the biggest reasons that patients fall is because they have to use the bathroom. For male patients I always place "just in case" urinals at the bedside, and I encourage female patients to use the call bell as soon as they think they have to use the restroom. It is also recommended that you offer toileting as frequently as possible so that you are able to prevent the "have to go right now" urge that draws patients out of their beds.
5. Teamwork works.
It would be impossible for a nurse to be able to be in all of his or her patients rooms at all times, especially within the environment of the ED. If you have a patient who is a high fall risk, who perhaps has dementia or is uncooperative, notify your charge nurse and your colleagues on the unit. Try to move the patient to a room in sight of the nurses' station or near a hallway. Keep the curtains to the room open if possible to allow as much sight as possible from passersby. If staffing allows, perhaps you could request a safety sitter to help watch the patient to keep them safe.
6. Speak up.
If there are conditions on your unit that continually put patients at risk for falls, report them to your manager and supervisors. It is everyone's responsibility to help prevent patient falls.
Laura Kinsella, BSN, RN, CEN, is an emergency room nurse in Washington, D.C. This was originally published by , a trusted source for nursing news and information and a portal for the latest jobs, scholarships, and books from Springer Publishing Company.