Patient Safety Topic

Overview

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​As healthcare facilities continually look to strengthen their falls prevention programs and respond ​patient falls, evaluation of falls events can provide additional opportunities to address this organization-wide challenge. The adoption of standardized strategies to reduce falls risk—including ongoing education about safe patient handling practices, handoff communications, and use of an assessment tool or checklist—helps to identify patient risk factors and could mitigate injurious to patient falls.

Educational Tools

Reporting
PA-PSRS Falls Event Type Decision Tree for Hospital Users
This decision tree is intended as a guide to help staff systematically evaluate the circumstances after a patient falls and assign an event type in the Pennsylvania Patient Safety Reporting System.

Falls Prevention

Hospital Engagement Network Falls Reduction and Prevention Collaboration Self-Assessment Tool
​This tool evaluates the current structure and content of a hospital falls prevention program, in comparison with evidence-based best-practice guidelines, and identifies opportunities for improvement.​

Pennsylvania Hospital Engagement Network Falls Self-Assessment Tool Action Plan​
After completing a self-assessment tool (SAT), your falls prevention team is encouraged to create an action plan targeted to any best-practice elements that were identified on the SAT as missing or incompletely implemented in your facility’s current falls prevention program.

Pennsylvania Hospital Engagement Network Falls Prevention Process Measures Audit Tool​

This audit tool is intended to help assess compliance with falls prevention practices most commonly included as part of hospital falls prevention plans.

Falls with Harm Savings Calculator
This sample falls with harm savings calculator for hospitals can be used to calculate the average additional cost of falls with serious injury, additional days, and cost savings associated with reductions in falls with serious injury.​

Post-Fall Investigation
Pennsylvania Hospital Engagement Network: Falls Reduction and Prevention Collaboration Postfall Investigation Tool
T​he Postfall Investigation (PFI) Tool is designed to be used to collect information following a patient fall.

Pennsylvania Hospital Engagement Network: Falls Reduction and Prevention Collaboration Postfall Investigation Data Collection Workbook ​
This data collection workbook is designed to be used for aggregating data about falls through use of the Pennsylvania Hospital Engagement Network Falls Reduction and Prevention Collaboration Postfall Investigation Tool.​

Specialty Locations
Ambulatory Surgical Facility Falls Risk Assessment Tool​​
Ambulatory surgical facilities can use this tool to screen patients for falls risk at three intervals: pre-admission, pre-operatively, and post-operatively.

​​​Radiology Falls Risk Assessment Tool

This sample assessment tool may be used to alert radiologic technologists to a patient’s risks for falls.

Multimedia










Ensuring patients do not fall while in the hospital is critical to their safety and overall recovery. In this “I am Patient Safety” 2018 Best Video award winner, produced by UPMC Susquehanna - Williamsport Regional Medical Center, patients and caregivers are shown the keys they need to remember to prevent falls in a hospital setting.

 

 

Safety Tips for Patients