Essentials of Evidence Based Practice week 1 response 2 – Patient falls

Essentials of Evidence Based Practice week 1 response 2 – Patient falls

Essay

1 Page

Nursing

Academic Level Master

Style      APA

Number of sources  4

Order description:

Please respond to Vivians post in one of the following ways Respond to at least two of your colleagues on two different days using one or more of the following approaches:

Ask a probing question, substantiated with additional background information, and evidence.

Share an insight from having read your colleagues’ postings, synthesizing the information to provide new perspectives.

Validate an idea with your own experience and additional sources.

Make a suggestion based on additional evidence drawn from readings or after synthesizing multiple postings.

Expand on your colleagues’ postings by providing additional strategies for addressing barriers to EBP based on readings and evidence

Patient falls are significant health care setbacks that often negatively impact patient health care outcome on my unit. One of the unit-wide interventions to prevent patient fall is having patients sign a “Fall Prevention Agreement” on admission. The agreement is patient’s commitment to call for help at all times and prevent existing bed unassisted. There are other fall prevention interventions that are used hospital wide, but this Fall Prevention Agreement signing practice makes me wonder the merit of the practice and its effectiveness. Inarguably, in an Intermediate care unit (IMU) that often sees patients with neurological impairments, cardiovascular impairments and pulmonary issues also have risks for poor comprehension of information. Besides, cognitive altering medications such as sedatives, sleep aids and pain medications impact patients’ understanding of their health situations.

Along these lines, I find no Evidence Based Practice (EBP) that supports signing a Fall Prevention Agreement would ensure that patients would always call for help prior to exiting their bed. Rather than signing Fall Prevention Agreement, I think fall prevention screening for EBP and identifying reliable interventions would help prevent patients’ falls risks. Pilot & Beck (2017) endorse health care practitioners question the effectiveness of clinical practices. Consequently, “Does a stroke patient on Neuro IMU signing fall prevention agreement reduce fall risk compared to fall screening over the hospital stay?”

While PICOT questions afford an opportunity for clinical research, Shivnan (2011) determines it is also an opportunity for the nurse the manager to create an action plan for staff to use EBP that evaluates fall prevention practices. Nonetheless, a potential barrier to this PICOT question is the manager’s acceptance of the need for fall agreement signage practice effectiveness as she is the innovator of the practice.

References

Pilot, D. F., & Beck, C. T. (2017). Nursing research: Generating and assessing evidence for nursing practice (10th ed.). Philadelphia, PA.: Wolters Kluwer.

Shivnan, J. C. (2011). How do you support your staff? Promote EBP. Retrieved from Nursing Management (Springhouse). 42(2):12–14: https://insights-ovid-com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/crossref?an=00006247-201102000-00004