Executive Summary 2
Executive Summary
Grand Canyon University
NRS-451V
February 9, 2015
Introduction
Quality initiative is the process of building from existing research and data from various health care facilities to improve the quality of care in America’s healthcare. It has been reported that 44,000-98,000 Americans die annually due to differing medical errors (Medscape Nurses, 2007). Falls and injuries related to falls have posed a great risk to individuals in hospitals which cause a large amount of inpatient and outpatient medical expenses. It stated that an annual $55 billion dollars are spent on fall related injures (Kramer et al., 2014). The objective of health institutions is to decrease the amount of falls and possible eliminate falls as a whole as a type of quality improvement initiative. Developing a program with a particular target group that is most affected by falls, and cost justification will be discussed in this paper.
Purpose and Target Population for Program
Falls are not only limited to hospital settings but home settings as well and according to the Center for Disease Prevention (CDC) in 2010 fall injuries for adults aged 75 and older per 1,000 individuals were 43 (2012). Research conducted globally has not shown a reduction in inpatient falls and the falls amongst patients still pose a great threat to patients. A program designed to eliminate or reduce falls can help patients across the world. There are numerous reasons that contribute to falls such as medications, weakness, disorientation, and environmental factors. The main key in preventing falls is education and appropriate interventions based on the individual patient needs. Designing a inpatient fall program as well as an outpatient home fall program can reduce falls both inpatient and outpatient. The program will target individuals 65 and older who have a history of falls, patients who have diagnosis of dementia, and those who may be experiencing muscle weakness that places them at a
Grand Canyon University
NRS-451V
February 9, 2015
Introduction
Quality initiative is the process of building from existing research and data from various health care facilities to improve the quality of care in America’s healthcare. It has been reported that 44,000-98,000 Americans die annually due to differing medical errors (Medscape Nurses, 2007). Falls and injuries related to falls have posed a great risk to individuals in hospitals which cause a large amount of inpatient and outpatient medical expenses. It stated that an annual $55 billion dollars are spent on fall related injures (Kramer et al., 2014). The objective of health institutions is to decrease the amount of falls and possible eliminate falls as a whole as a type of quality improvement initiative. Developing a program with a particular target group that is most affected by falls, and cost justification will be discussed in this paper.
Purpose and Target Population for Program
Falls are not only limited to hospital settings but home settings as well and according to the Center for Disease Prevention (CDC) in 2010 fall injuries for adults aged 75 and older per 1,000 individuals were 43 (2012). Research conducted globally has not shown a reduction in inpatient falls and the falls amongst patients still pose a great threat to patients. A program designed to eliminate or reduce falls can help patients across the world. There are numerous reasons that contribute to falls such as medications, weakness, disorientation, and environmental factors. The main key in preventing falls is education and appropriate interventions based on the individual patient needs. Designing a inpatient fall program as well as an outpatient home fall program can reduce falls both inpatient and outpatient. The program will target individuals 65 and older who have a history of falls, patients who have diagnosis of dementia, and those who may be experiencing muscle weakness that places them at a
References: Center for Disease Control and Prevention. (2012, February 3). CDC - Older Adult Falls - Data and Statistics - Home and Recreational Safety - Injury Center. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/homeandrecreationalsafety/Falls/data.html Dean, E. (2012). Reducing Falls Among Older People In Hospital. Nursing Older People, 24(5), 16-19 Inouye, S. K., Brown, C. J., & Tinetti, M. E. (2009). Medicare Nonpayment, Hospital Falls, and Unintended Consequences. New England Journal of Medicine, 360, 2390-2393. doi:10.1056/NEJMp0900963 Intensity. Journal Of Aging & Physical Activity, 22(3), 372-379. Kramer, B. J., Creekmur, B., Mitchell, M. N., Rose, D. J., Pynoos, J., & Rubenstein, L. Z. (2014). Community Fall Prevention Programs: Comparing Three InSTEP Models by Level of Medscape Nurses. (2007). Quality Improvement in Healthcare. Retrieved from www.medscape.org/viewarticle/561651 Trepanier, S., & Hilsenbeck, J. (2014). A Hospital System Approach At Decreasing Falls with Injuries And Cost. Nursing Economic$, 32(3), 135-141.