Date of Graduation

Fall 12-15-2017

Document Access

Project/Capstone - Global access

Degree Name

Master of Science in Nursing (MSN)

College/School

School of Nursing and Health Professions

First Advisor

Dr. Susan Mortell

Abstract

Abstract

By nature falls begin to occur as part of the aging process and are a major source of morbidity and mortality in the elderly patients. Despite the extra blanket of care the palliative team creates for it’s patients, fall incidents are continuing to plague this palliative domain. During the process of this project, gaps in the delivery of care contributing to patient falls were identified. It was established that the care system’s inconsistency and lack of structured assessment of the individuals’ risks for falls and thus customization of patient specific fall prevention strategies at point of admission was the weakness and the greatest contributor to patient falls.

It was decided that Morse Falls Risk Assessment (see Appendix B) is the best option for the organization and the patients it serves. The tool will serve as a guide for the provider to formally assess and document patient’s risks for falls, educate patient and family based on the identified needs and share the findings with the interdisciplinary team so that a patient-tailored fall prevention approach can be implemented using a system approach. The project will run as a pilot from September 2017 to December 2017. The main objective of this project is to mitigate and prevent falls in the palliative patient population. The goal is to see a 30 % decrease in patient falls by the end of December 2017.

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