Falls Risk Assessment

The RN has an important role in coordinating, supervising and delegating staff to provide safe and quality care to older residents with dementia. As the EENs, ENs and PCAs are in the direct contact with residents more often, the RN has the responsibility to gather and redistribute information to all caregivers (ACN, 2016). Staff may not always have the prerequisite dementia knowledge, skills or training, and this requires staff to be supervised by a RN (Hickman, Neville, Fischer, Davidson, & Phillips, 2016). Preventing functional decline and optimising functional outcomes of residents involves staff promoting health and safety of their residents through strategies set up by the RN (ACN, 2016). Strategies involving promoting mobility, promoting
Falls within the aged population are prevalent especially in individuals with dementia, as they tend to have marked impairment in their gait and balance (Shaw, 2007). Falls tend to occur at the bedside and are associated with agitation, aggression, restlessness, attempts to ambulate or lack of awareness of wandering in people with dementia (Australian Commission of Safety and Quality in Health Care (ACSQHC) (2009). Falls risk assessment is the responsibility of all registered nursing staff within residential aged care. Conducting a falls risk assessment for residents is an important step in outlining steps to be taken to assist individuals residents to ambulate safely. Due to residents with dementia typically having a cognitive impairment, they should be more frequently observed as their risk of falling is greater (Shaw, 2007). Strategies to reduce risk of falls include staff providing special socks that have grip on them when retiring a resident to bed, and to improve gait, balance, mobility and flexibility exercise/ activity and mobility exercises can be utilised such as strengthen the leg muscles. (Shaw, 2007). Malnutrition and residents maintaining adequate nutritional intake is another area that RNs should
As dementia has associated changes in physiology of the brain is involved with impaired mental processes, psychological changes in people with dementia, change as dementia progresses, along with psychological and behavioral changes, including aggression, wandering, hallucinating and delusions, increasing the need for support (Brooks, Ross, & Beattie, 2015). As dementia progresses people suffering need increased assistance and support to undertake ADL, including toileting, bathing, dressing, mobilising and assistance during meal times (Brooks et al., 2015). As a person with dementia has a decrease in their independence, the risk of functional decline becomes more and more