Decreasing Fall Rates in Dementia Patients

Presenters

Ashton EnsleyFollow

Disciplines

Nursing

Abstract (300 words maximum)

There are approximately fifty-five million people today living with dementia. When these patients are admitted to a hospital facility, they are at a higher risk for falls due to the unfamiliar environment, decreased and limited mobility, confusion, and more. On the medical-surgical unit, many dementia patients are there from three to six weeks on average, with some outliers’ stay exceeding two months. Approximately forty to fifty percent of the dementia patients on this floor have a fall incident per month. This significant percentage of falls justifies the implementation of new programs and additional staffing. The current practice to decrease falls in dementia patients is setting bed alarms to alert staff when these patients get up. However, patients are falling before being assisted. The purpose of implementing the change of exercise programs and creative programs is to decrease falls in patients with dementia to improve their health during long hospital stays. Evidence shows exercise programs to increase mobility, balance ability, and fine motor skills reduced fall rates significantly. These exercise programs were implemented as a part of admission directed by PT, OT, and nursing staff alike. Due to the increased length of stay for these patients, there will be ample time to carry out the exercise program and allow it to be effective in decreasing falls. Creative programs such as art and music have also been shown to be effective in preventing falls in this population. These interventions were implemented by requiring exercise programs to be done for all dementia patients admitted to a hospital floor long-term and by nurses utilizing music and art materials to aid in their patients' well-being. These changes were implemented over a series of two months and will be evaluated for effectiveness by comparing new fall rates to fall rates prior to these changes.

Academic department under which the project should be listed

Wellstar School of Nursing

Primary Investigator (PI) Name

Dr. Christie Emerson

Additional Faculty

Jan Turner, Nursing, jguthas@kennesaw.edu

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Decreasing Fall Rates in Dementia Patients

There are approximately fifty-five million people today living with dementia. When these patients are admitted to a hospital facility, they are at a higher risk for falls due to the unfamiliar environment, decreased and limited mobility, confusion, and more. On the medical-surgical unit, many dementia patients are there from three to six weeks on average, with some outliers’ stay exceeding two months. Approximately forty to fifty percent of the dementia patients on this floor have a fall incident per month. This significant percentage of falls justifies the implementation of new programs and additional staffing. The current practice to decrease falls in dementia patients is setting bed alarms to alert staff when these patients get up. However, patients are falling before being assisted. The purpose of implementing the change of exercise programs and creative programs is to decrease falls in patients with dementia to improve their health during long hospital stays. Evidence shows exercise programs to increase mobility, balance ability, and fine motor skills reduced fall rates significantly. These exercise programs were implemented as a part of admission directed by PT, OT, and nursing staff alike. Due to the increased length of stay for these patients, there will be ample time to carry out the exercise program and allow it to be effective in decreasing falls. Creative programs such as art and music have also been shown to be effective in preventing falls in this population. These interventions were implemented by requiring exercise programs to be done for all dementia patients admitted to a hospital floor long-term and by nurses utilizing music and art materials to aid in their patients' well-being. These changes were implemented over a series of two months and will be evaluated for effectiveness by comparing new fall rates to fall rates prior to these changes.