Prevention of Patient Falls through Perceived Control and other Techniques

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Every year thousands of patients suffer injury while attempting to make use of bathroom facilities. In addition to the suffering and protracted inpatient care that these incidents cause, hospitals have been faced with staggering costs in the form of increased insurance premiums arising directly out of an increased number of lawsuits. This problem has reached a proportion such that it clearly deserves careful and indepth industry study. This article, while far from a comprehensive study, will attempt to draw certain conclusions and perhaps dispel certain myths based upon a study of 181 patient falls at a 200+-bed community hospital in the Northeastern United States. In the not too distant past, hospitals could not generally be held legally responsible for failure to raise bedrails absent specific medical direction. Such was the case because few, if any, hospitals had guidelines or procedures for the placement of bedrails in the absence of a physician's order.

This publication has 2 references indexed in Scilit: