Focused on Fall Prevention
As part of our ongoing commitment to providing the highest quality care to our community, Beauregard Health System placed a renewed focus on patient fall prevention as a high priority measure, igniting several different initiatives and taking preventive actions to protect high-risk patients from injury.
Performance Improvement
With the overall goal of patient and staff safety in mind, a Fall Prevention Performance Improvement Project was put in place. This included a Fall Prevention Rounding Tool and the CareView Patient Monitoring System that was implemented in the Medical/Surgical Department. Fall prevention champions Penny Smith, RN, and Trish Evans, CNA, were appointed to lead the grassroots effort and initiate post-fall huddles to assess every incident and debrief. Along with these initiatives, a renewed focus on staff education and communication was implemented.
CareView
Beauregard Health System partnered with CareView, a predictive patient monitoring system that uses intelligent motion detection, infrared cameras and machine learning to monitor patients at a higher risk for falls and injury.
The system sets a virtual perimeter around the bed/chair to detect movement to the edge, then visually and audibly transmits signals to the nurses’ station. The video feed is not recorded and is conducted in strict accordance with HIPAA privacy laws, giving patients and caregivers the ability to disable the video feed at any time.
A focus on bariatric safety
The Bariatric Safety Team was formed in response to a specific safety need concerning falls related to the bariatric patient population. This team continues to hold monthly meetings to review internal quality data, discuss staff training and monitor hospital safety ratings to create a zero harm environment.
The team was awarded a grant through the LHA Trust Funds to assist in developing a comprehensive bariatric multidisciplinary admissions policy and assessment to prevent patient harm and decrease overall incidence and severity of falls with proper transfer training and equipment. The team also initiated a fall prevention awareness campaign, including balance education, physical therapy and general conditioning through community awareness.
Categories: Highlights & Happenings