Date of Conferral

2021

Degree

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)

School

Nursing

Advisor

Margaret Harvey

Abstract

One out of 4 older people fall each year. By the year 2030, it is estimated that 49 million older adults will fall and that 12 million will incur injuries as a result. A rise in the trend in falls among older adults represents a growing burden; the cost for falls billed to Medicare in the year 2015 was an aggregate of over $31 billion. The purpose of this quality improvement evaluation project was to assess the effectiveness of a fall preventative pilot program to reduce the number of falls among the residents of a rehabilitation and long-term care facility in New York City. Lewin's theory of change was used as a guide for this project. The Operation No More Falls initiative included a 10-day interdisciplinary staff educational intervention (N = 57) and a 30-day multifactorial fall prevention program with for residents (N = 68). Sources of evidence were obtained from pre and post secondary data on learner gain and fall rates and were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The findings of the project showed learner gain in pretest score (M = 65.9; SD = 16.13) to posttest score (M = 88.04; SD = 13.26). The fall rate over a 14-month period prior to the initiative indicated a mean rate of falls between 14 and 16 per month with the exception of two months where the rate was lower than 10 falls per month.. In the 30 days following the initiative, there were only 10 falls, which suggests that a consistent fall prevention program may decrease the number of falls. Adhering to an identification protocol and comprehensive fall risk assessment as part of an effective multifactorial fall prevention program can reduce the financial burden of falls on these facilities and society at large.

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