As soon as a patient enters a hospital, their odds of falling immediately increase. According to the AHRQ, up to 1 million hospitalized patients fall each year. An inpatient falls study conducted in a 350-bed urban hospital found that the rate of falls was 6.484 per 1,000 hospitalizations during the 2013–2017 period. Everything from pain and illness-related disorientation to medication side effects play a role. Likewise, hospitalized patients are more likely to be older or arrive with pre-existing conditions impacting their overall mobility, increasing the need to prevent falls.
Fall prevention in hospitals isn’t about eliminating all fall risks but mitigating them to decrease incidents and improve patient safety outcomes. To accomplish this, safety teams must understand when, where, and why falls happen. Using tools like a comprehensive patient safety event reporting guide can help hospitals better track and analyze fall incidents.
American Data Network has created a free Fall Prevention Calculator based on the Morse Fall Scale that is simple and quick to use to evaluate the risk of a patient falling while also providing suggested interventions based on a specific patient’s risk factors.
Falls are a potentially catastrophic complication of inpatient care and a big piece of evaluating patient safety. More than a third of inpatient falls result in an injury that can include fractures and head trauma. Even falls that do not result in an injury can cause stress and anxiety to the patient, so it’s crucial to prevent falls as much as possible. Tools like the fall tips prevention toolkit can further help reduce fall-related injuries in hospitals.
In addition to patient risk, there is also a financial risk. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services do not reimburse hospitals for additional costs associated with patient falls. Aside from analyzing patient safety data to determine fall causes, the Morse Fall Scale calculator is a straightforward tool that can help prevent falls from even happening.
The Morse Fall Scale (MFS) is an evidence-based fall prevention evaluation that is a quick and efficient way to assess the risk factors of a patient falling. There are six easy-to-answer questions that will rapidly identify if a fall risk is high, moderate, or low, helping to prevent falls. It can also inform you if there is no fall risk present.
Not all falls are predictable or preventable in acute care settings. The MFS aid has been shown to predict up to 78% of patients who fall. According to Janice M. Morse, the researcher and creator of the MFS, falls are classified into 3 types:
The Morse Fall Risk Assessment tool is efficient and produces consistent results. This can be helpful when standardizing the tool across facilities or hospital systems. In addition to being easy for front-line staff members to use, it also provides accurate, evidence-based results, making it easier to prevent falls across the board.
The steps involved in using the Morse Fall Scale calculator are as follows:
Data Collection: Clinicians input non-identifiable patient data through a series of dropdown selections. This data includes the patient’s history of falling, presence of secondary diagnoses, type of ambulatory aid used, IV therapy status, gait, and mental status.
Scoring Each Input: The calculator then assigns scores to each input based on established criteria:
Total Score Calculation: The calculator sums up the points from each category to derive a total fall risk score.
Risk Level Determination: Based on the total score, the calculator categorizes the patient’s fall risk level:
ADN built an easy-to-use, mobile-friendly Fall Prevention Calculator to place proactive fall prevention and strategic care planning at your fingertips. This tool not only helps assess the risk of falling but also offers suggested interventions based on the patient’s condition, helping teams actively prevent falls. Hospitals can also strengthen their safety initiatives with a good catch program to capture near-miss events and improve overall outcomes.
Its adaptable, responsive design ensures functionality across all devices, whether at a workstation or on a phone on the floor. This design ensures accurate fall risk assessment and timely interventions are always within reach to help prevent falls.
Depending on the areas of risk for each patient, there are tried-and-true best practices that most clinicians know. However, if patient safety and risk management has taught us anything, it’s that best practices help prevent human error. ADN’s Fall Prevention Calculator helps ensure that patient-specific, timely reminders of appropriate interventions are suggested every time, not almost every time.
Suggestion Generation Process:
Based on Selections: For each category where the user selects an option other than the default (e.g., “Yes” for history of falling), the calculator suggests targeted interventions.
Type of Suggestions: These suggestions include measures like implementing safety precautions, considering physical therapy consults, establishing a toileting/rounding schedule, and placing the patient in a visible location.
Display of Suggestions: The suggested interventions are displayed under the corresponding risk category, providing a comprehensive guide for fall prevention tailored to the patient’s specific needs.
For the best outcomes, the calculator must be implemented into daily healthcare routines. All healthcare personnel should receive training on the effective use of the calculator and the resulting score.
It is important to note that the Fall Prevention Calculator is a tool, not a comprehensive solution. It should be used in collaboration with other fall prevention strategies in hospitals. Ideally, care teams will implement a patient’s risk score into broader fall prevention plans. Before implementation, patient safety teams should assess their current fall prevention strategies. Many hospitals post fall risk signs or ask patients to wear fall risk wristbands. While these are good tools to inform, they do not address the systemic errors that lead to falls in the first place. To best utilize the Morse Fall Scale data, safety teams must first ask themselves when and why falls are happening.
A Patient Safety Event Reporting application is key to recording and abstracting data on falls, which can inform necessary changes to routines and procedures to prevent falls. Implementing a good catch program can also gather qualitative data to help identify systemic deficits. Hospitals looking to meet national standards can benefit from reviewing our national patient safety goals guide for effective strategies in patient safety and fall prevention.
Incorporating the Morse Fall Scale Calculator into your hospital’s fall prevention strategy is a simple yet powerful step toward enhancing patient safety. By using this tool alongside a comprehensive patient safety event reporting guide and other proven resources like the fall tips prevention toolkit, your care team can significantly reduce fall-related incidents and improve outcomes. Empower your staff with the right tools and strategies to prevent falls and create a safer environment for every patient. Start making a difference today with American Data Network’s innovative solutions.
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