Nurses, CPSI lead project aimed to protect LTC residents from falls
Friday May 9, 2008 -- Natalie Miller
The Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario (RNAO) and the Canadian Patient Safety Institute (CPSI) are leading a project aimed at protecting long-term care residents from falls.

'The National Collaborative on Falls in Long-Term Care' is an initiative involving teams of health professionals from across the country with the aim of preventing seniors who reside in long-term care from falling. The teams, comprised of nurses, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, dietitians, pharmacists and personal support workers, met with quality improvement and falls prevention experts in Montreal on May 5 and 6 to discuss strategies and best practices for keeping residents safe.

As administrator and director of care at West Lake Terrace in West Lake, Mary Lynn Lester says falls are a huge issue in long-term care and for the senior population in general.

“Falls are really hard to prevent,” she says.

“It's very work-intensive.”

She says West Lake Terrace has tried numerous approaches to reducing falls and is currently working on a prevention program in conjunction with the home's physiotherapist.

According to the news release from the RNAO and CPSI, half of the seniors living in long-term care facilities fall and injure themselves every year but research shows that the majority of falls can be prevented. The RNAO has developed a guideline ‘Prevention of Falls and Fall Injuries in the Older Adult.'

“We experience first-hand the effect that a fall can have on an older person,” says registered nurse Irmajean Bajnok, Director of International Affairs and Best Practice Guidelines Programs at RNAO, in a news release.

“People can be seriously injured and even end up with a disability. So, preventing falls is absolutely critical.”

The goal of this new partnership is to prevent falls while maintaining independence. “We’re not talking about restricting movement or using restraints of any sort. We’re calling for the assessment and identification of those at risk for falls and setting up as many preventative strategies as possible. That way, older persons have the dignity and freedom to move about, but also the safety net and support they need,” Bajnok explains.

The group will be focusing on strategies such as: assessing a resident’s risk for falling when they first enter a long-term care facility; teaching staff, residents and families how to prevent falls; having residents do balance and strength training; lowering the height of beds; and using bed exit alarms when patients are at a high risk of falling, the press release states.

The project is part of CPSI's Safer Healthcare Now! (SHN) Initiative.

“SHN is committed to making health care safer for people across this country,” says Phil Hassen, chair of SHN’s National Steering Committee and Chief Executive Officer of the Canadian Patient Safety Institute.

“We’re proud to partner with the RNAO in the implementation of their best practice guideline to prevent falls and fall-related injuries for residents in long-term care. This partnership will ensure a comprehensive approach to addressing this safety issue on a national level.”

—More to come

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