Analysis of the Pediatric Fall Risk Assessment Scale
Today, promoting patient safety has become a priority for all the nurses working in the healthcare system. Since most of the patient safety matters need wide-ranging interdisciplinary approaches, the specific nurse sensitive indicators determine the task of preventing patient fall. In fact, it is becoming more important for the hospitals to come up with improvement procedures, whereby the healthcare units will be needed to use the available resources and ability to track and benchmark concept so that the hospitals can improve quality indicators like fall rates (Murray, Vess, & Edlund, 2016). One way that the nurses can do to ensure that they identify the patient at risk of fall is through doing an evaluation of the fall prevention program that is available in a fall risk assessment scale.
Although most hospitals have established the adult fall risk assessment scale, the use of pediatric fall risk scales is limited in most of the hospitals, in particular the one that concerns children patients. This implies that in the same hospitals with the fall assessment scale, the tools are inappropriately utilized to hospitalize some patients like children who may become a victim of fall risk at one time or the other. For this reason, patients fall, especially for children remain a challenge for care hospitals, to the extent that the issues continue to complicate the hospital stay for the children and adults (Jamerson, et al., 2014). Murray, Vess, and Edlund (2016) affirm that to cope up with the issue of fall risk, the health care system has responded to the matter, where The Joint Commission and The Health and Medicine Division groups have placed much emphasis and attention on coming up with techniques set to decrease the event of fall during hospitalization. In addition, The Joint Commission has continued to ensure that each hospital has efficiency method that it can use to identify and screen children who are at the risk of pediatric fall (Murray, Vess, and Edlund, 2016). Thus, this study aims at analyzing different research that has assessed the issue of pediatric fall risk assessment scale. For a detailed analysis, the paper looks at the issue of fall risk, the basis of the study on the similar topic, evidence outlined in the studies, ethical issues, dissemination methods that each study has focused on, and the studies’ outcomes or results.
Identification and Important of the Issue
While significant information is known about the fall risk, little has been done to reduce the risk of fall for pediatric adults and children patients. As such, for this project, the question that the studies analyzed have focused on involves the practice that hospitals ought to adopt so that they can enhance prevention the risk of pediatric fall. The study by Hill‐Rodriguez, et al. (2009) revealed that to promote patient safety and care fall prevention programs for hospitalized patients, hospitals ought to be innovative and involves strategies that hospitals will use to reduce the risks that are related to the issue of patient fall. The researcher draws much focus on the prevention and reduction of fall issue inside and outside the hospital. On the other hand, Cooper (2014) focused on analyzing the issue of fall, in which the researcher says that nurse researcher in the U.S has identified several actions that should be implemented by the hospitals in order to help in reducing the rate of children and adult patient fall. Here, one can most the studies that concern pediatric fall are focusing on discussing the prevention measures that hospitals and nursing caregivers should use to decrease and the cases of risk of fall. The studies are important to nurses and the patients because they create an awareness concerning the effort to decrease and prevent the risk of falls in both adults and children patients. The studies can be used as a screening tool whereby the nurses and hospitals can use the findings to understand how to control, reduce, and prevent the risk of pediatric fall.
The Evidence on the Studies Concerning the Risk of fall
For effective and useful research on the pediatric fall and the risk related to the issue, researchers employ information from the review literature on the same subject. The four studies used for this analysis have reviewed book, journals, web pages, and case studies that relate to the topic of the risk of fall. In all the four studies, the fall-risk assessment is mostly connected to the information portrayed by the Joint Commission and The Health and Medicine Division associations.
Review of the Prevention Policy and Program
Murray, Vess, and Edlund (2016) reviewed the programs that are set by different association to ensure that hospitals put measures developed to be taken as a priority so that hospitals can reduce the risk of fall and promote patient safety. The researcher uses other studies to come up with the information that talks about the Joint Commission and The Health and Medicine Division associations and their effort to reduce the risk of fall within the healthcare centers. Murray, Vess, and Edlund (2016) analyzed how the commission has emphasized on the hospitals to implement policies and programs that will promote the safety of the fall patients. In the review, the study presents that according to The Joint Commission, for hospitals to prevent the risk of fall they need to use the most validated fall risk assessment tools. Murray, Vess, and Edlund (2016) note that the programs requiring the use of such tools are important because the tools offer direction to care decisions and ensure that the safety plans provide care for all fall patients within the healthcare system.
Review of the Fall Risk Assessment Tool
Cooper (2014) reviewed the evidence that is available, especially concerning the fall risk screening and fall prevention tools. The researcher uses published literature and most importantly the literature that touches on the useful tools used as prevention programs. Through the review of the previous studies, Cooper (2014) found out that in the modern hospitals there is a variety of risk assessment tools. The researcher lists the following as the major tools that hospitals need to use for the prevention of the fall risk:
- First, the long-term care facilities set to be used by the caregivers.
- Intensive assessments done by doctors or clinicians on either outpatient setting or long-term facilities.
- Assessments done by the physical therapists or doctors in the outpatient setting.
The Review of the Case Study Relating to the Risk of fall
In the recent study concerning the risk of fall Hill‐Rodriguez, et al. (2009) analyzed the literature through the analysis of a case study reporting on the incident of pediatric inpatient fall. In the review section for the study, Hill-Rodriguez, et al. (2009) point out that the fall of hospitalized patient has increased, with the researcher finding out the fall ranges from 25% to 84% and the cases forms the second most-costly form of injury. The research has also focused on reviewing the use of instruments that are set to reduce and prevent pediatric fall, in which evidently shows that for hospitals that are attempting to use adults instrument to prevent the risk of fall for children has not successful (Hill-Rodriguez, et al., 2009). In the case study, that the research uses, the reviews show that in many hospital instruments that are set to prevent risk fall is set for adults and not for children.
Review on the fall of Hospitalizes Children
In this study, Jamerson, et al. (2014) analyzed the published literature that concern patient fall on both the studies taking the children and adults population who have experienced the issue of fall. In the review chapter, the researcher analyzes the classification of pediatric fall and looks at the studies showing the fall rates. With the researcher focusing most on reviewing the literature that talk about the rates of injury in children undergoing pediatric fall. In the review of the previous studies, Jamerson, et al. (2014) assert that the number of children who get injured due to the case of pediatric fall has increased to 36%, making the rate of children affected by the problem being near to that of the adult’s patients. From the literature on other researchers, the study is trying to show that the number of children going through the problem of fall has increased, which call for healthcare intervention.
The Study’s Gap and Area of Future Study
Significance Gap
As most of the studies that the articles have used relate to the risk of fall for the adult patients, the articles have also touched on the issue of pediatric fall for children patients. For instance, in the study where the researcher has used the case study as one of the sources for literature review, it is clear that the study employs considerable literature has been published on the reduction of fall risks for adult patients (Jamerson, et al., 2014). The researcher has continued to assert that most of the instruments used in the hospitals to control the case of pediatric fall are for adult patients. Ideally, the studies being analyzed in this discussion are significant to the nurses and doctors as they bring out the awareness concerning the lack of research on how to decrease the risk of fall in children patients. The studies propose that healthcare system should come up with improved programs and policies, whereby the prevention of the fall risk will involve children and adult patients.
Future Studies
Each study needs a future research. As such, an area of focus that the researchers should look at in the studies that they will have to carry in the future relates to fall risk-screening tools for children patient. This means that the future prospective studies will be necessary for each research because the studies will allow the researchers to count for confounding variables that are making it be a challenge for the healthcare system to identify the appropriate tools for screening of the risk of fall for the children patients.
The Strengths of the Articles to the Nursing Practice
The article has vital strengths to the nursing practice, as they can be viewed as guidelines for the nurses, especially the one assigned to the task of taking care of the fall patients. Since the call of the healthcare organization to improve the quality of care has increased, the article reviewed for this discussion plays a significant role in quality improvement tasks. First, when one looks at the study by Murray, Vess, and Edlund (2016), it is obvious that the article can help the nurses to position themselves to provide improved care when it comes to dealing with the issue of patients fall, in particular for children. In the study, the researcher introduces the fact that today, children have a normal tendency to fall, but most of the healthcare organizations have not identified the best program that should ensure that even the children fall patient are given the care that they need. The article by Murray, Vess, and Edlund (2016) discusses the policies and programs set by The Joint Commission, as one way to ensure that hospitals have improved their care for the fallen patient. In this case, the study is important to nurses, as it gives them the awareness they need concerning the screening method that they should adapt to enhance appropriate treatment of the children who are at the risk of fall.
The study by Jamerson, et al. (2014) has influencing strengths to the nursing practice. In the article, the researcher identifies the strategies that the nurses should decrease the fall risk that involves all patients. The research can be used to show the nursing that the best strategies that they can use to reduce the risk of fall include risk identification, communication, and adapting the prevention strategies. This implies that nurses can integrate Jamerson, et al.’s (2014) study and clarify on the strategies that are nurses ought to employ to reduce the risk fall for children and adult patients. On the other hand, Hill‐Rodriguez, et al. (2009) outline significant aspect that concerns pediatric fall tools. The study serves the purpose of giving the nurses an idea of adult fall tools.
Through the study, nurses can learn more about the way fall risk tools work and the tools that can lead to programs that are established to provide fall protection care services. On a different study by Cooper (2014), the issue of fall risk evaluation tools has been discussed, and the study can be significance to the nursing organizations, as the article helps the nurses to understand the fall screening tools especially for the children patients. The study is a source of information to nurses since the healthcare practitioners can utilize the article to ensure that pediatric fall risk screening tools are implemented in the Children’s Hospitals in the most appropriate manner. The study is also relevant to the nurses working at the Children Hospitals as the nurses to promote effectiveness and use of resources in the Children’s healthcare units can use it.
Project Processes and Outcome
Process
The studies used for this analysis are executed using primary data. For reliable and valid information, the studies review the case of a specific number of patient who has felt during hospitalization. Since the analysis focuses on improving the fall risk assessments scale, the review of the cases will involve both the children and adult patients. The cases reviewed are arranged to the patient’s age, gender, diagnosis, and location.
Outcomes
The research outcomes are aimed to be positive and necessary to the improvement plans. The project intends to show the number of fall cases among children based on their age and gender. Besides, the project aims at coming up with results that show when the fall occur, location, and factors that have led to the increase of the cases of pediatric fall for the children patients. As such, based on the studies used for this project, it is apparent falls for children and adults’ patients occur on every day and week, but mostly on the third day of hospitalization. The project will also consider the outcomes, relating to the locations issues, whereby it is proposed most of the fall cases occurs in the patient rooms, bathroom, and outside the rooms.
Disseminating the Project Results to the Stakeholders
The reason why it is necessary for the researcher to disseminate the project result to the stakeholders is that through the act of distributing the project’s outcomes, the researcher will distribute the objective of the study to all members who work in the hospitals. Therefore, the research having identified the stakeholders who will be affected by this project, the most effective methods that will be used for this purpose are the use of technology and face-to-face method where applicable. For technology method, the research will send the result to all members (doctors and nurses) through email, where each person will read and understand the outcomes of the project and the way it can influence his or her perspective concerning the risk of pediatric fall. The face-to-face method will most be used to distribute the result to the patients, in which the researcher will be required to take the patient through the results for clarification purposes.
Ethical Issues Related to the Improvement Project
In research, ethical issues promote the outcome of the study and assist the researcher in avoiding errors that might influence the research outcomes. Additionally, when the project adheres ethical issues, the researcher conducting the project will create a good relationship with the participant especially the patients, as this will show the case of professionalism. The ethical issues that the researcher will consider issues such as participants’ rights and safety. This will be substantial for the researcher because the participant will give the researcher supportive information and offer the researcher collaboration that is needed to complete the study. The researcher is also needed to follow the legal policies when conducting the project, as another way of observing the ethical issues that relate to research. Here, it is the responsibility of the researcher to ensure that no personal information concerning the patient is leaked or goes to the public.
Conclusion
In essences, from the articles, that have executed studies about the concept of fall risk assessment, it is evident that hospitals need to understand that hospitalized children are at a high risk of suffering the consequence of falling either in the hospital’s room, outside, and washrooms. As the studies, present data from the case studies on the falling of the patients in the hospitals, the tools that are used to prevent the risk of patient fall are not effective. Thus, for this reason, the Joint Commission has set requirement for the hospitals, whereby the healthcare center needs to collect information concerning the fall risk and come up with ways that they will promote patients’ safety. The commission also requires hospitals to implement tools that will make sure enhance the hospitalized children are assessed appropriately for fall risks, where the hospitals will get into a better position to benchmark pediatric fall.
References
Cooper, C. L. (2014). Evaluation of a pediatric fall risk assessment tool. College of Health and Human Services California State University, Fresno.
Hill‐Rodriguez, D., Messmer, P. R., Williams, P. D., Zeller, R. A., Williams, A. R., Wood, M., & Henry, M. (2009). The Humpty Dumpty Falls Scale: A Case–Control Study. Journal for specialists in pediatric nursing, 14(1), 22-32.
Jamerson, P. A., Graf, E., Messmer, P. R., Fields, H. W., Barton, S., Berger, A., … & Smith, A. B. (2014). Inpatient falls in freestanding children’s hospitals. Pediatric nursing, 40(3), 127-135
Murray, E., Vess, J., & Edlund, B. J. (2016). Implementing a Pediatric Fall Prevention Policy and Program. Pediatric Nursing, 42(5), 256-260.
