Date of Conferral

2019

Degree

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)

School

Nursing

Advisor

Courtney S. Nyange

Abstract

Hospital falls among medical-surgical inpatients are a safety concern. Inpatient falls that lead to significant injuries may be reduced by fall intervention education, which can lead to the preparedness of the patient and care providers. Orlando's deliberative nursing process theory and the plan-do-check-act model were applied to address the project practice-focused question that explored whether the education of staff nurses on fall prevention interventions would reduce the incidence of falls during a 2-month period. The purpose of the project was to implement and evaluate nursing staff education on the Morse fall scale, an evidence-based fall-prevention intervention. Evaluation of staff nurse knowledge related to use of the scale and data that indicated the number of patient falls were collected before and after implementation of the education project. The education project was effective in decreasing fall rates from 4.2 to 3.4 falls per 1,000 days over a 2-month period; it also resulted in an average Morse fall scale assessment score of 90%. The implications of this project for positive social change include protecting patients from injury and promoting safety through the identification of high-risk patients and application of individualized fall-reduction interventions. The outcome of the project demonstrated that falls can be prevented through improved education and the use of fall interventions.

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