2023 Falls are one of the major causes of mortality and morbidity in older

Falls are one of the major causes of mortality and morbidity in older adults. Every year, an estimated 30–40% of patients over the age of 65 will fall at least once. Falls lead to moderate to severe injuries, fear of falling, loss of independence and death in a third of those patients. Falls account for 87 % of all fractures in the elderly. These fractures are almost always due to low impact injuries in osteoporotic bones. Several organizations have recommended screening older patients to identify those with a high risk of falling and, or fractures.

Working in the long term setting I have witnessed so many preventable falls in elderly population. Currently our fall numbers are very high. I would like to implement my plan on a group of patients like 30 patients at time. Just to see how it works. I will really like to involve my CNA’s for that station and have meeting with them to know more basics to prevent those falls. Reason involving CNA’s, I want to reach to root cause of fall and wants to plan individualized interventions.

References

Ambrose, A. F., Cruz, L., & Paul, G. (2015). Review: Falls and Fractures: A systematic approach to screening and prevention. Maturitas, 82, 85–93. https://doi-org.lopes.idm.oclc.org/10.1016/j.maturitas.2015.06.035