Description of Toolkit

Patient falls are unplanned events in which the patient comes to rest on the ground or lower surface. This toolkit offers guidance designed to assist you with creating an organization awareness and develop a response to patient falls, including education, prevention, assessment, reassessment, intervention and continuous improvement. The tools are a beginning rather than an end, dynamic rather than static, and they should be viewed as performance improvement assets rather than rules and regulations.

The Patient Falls Reduction Toolkit is designed to address four facets of a credible patient fall reduction program:

• Assessment and re-assessment of all patients for fall risk
• Interventions to prevent falls
• Education of the patient and family
• Data collection for continuous program improvement

The toolkit includes:

• Executive Summary
• Patient Fall Policy
• Patient at Risk for Falls Protocol
• Patient Falls Focused Review and Database
• Patient and Family Teaching: Fall Prevention
• Appendix

Description of Tools

Patient Fall Policy

This section includes the following: Purpose, Standard Definitions, Healthcare Team Responsibilities, Patient Care Management, Risk Assessment Tools, and Fall Prevention Interventions Guidelines.

Patient at Risk for Falls Protocol

Useful for demonstrating multidisciplinary collaboration.

Patient Falls Focused Review and Database

This tool is intended as a comprehensive database for getting complete information and designed for staff from across all areas of the hospital or clinic.

Patient and Family Teaching: Fall Prevention

Promoting a consistent approach to educating both the patient and family.

Appendix

Provides salient features for using data to drive sustained performance improvement activities.

Contact the Patient Safety Program team to request toolkit