news views Fall 2012
A Publication of the Department of Nursing and Patient Care Services
University of Maryland Medical Center
UMMC Falls Prevention Program: Changing Our Culture One Staff Member at a Time Jennifer Motley, BSN, RN, Senior Clinical Nurse I, Multitrauma IMC, R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center, and Chair, UMMC Falls Committee Kate Keefer, BSN, RN, Senior Clinical Nurse I, 13 East/West, Departments of Medicine and Surgery, and Co-Chair, UMMC Falls Committee Luiza Lima, MS, RN-BC, Professional Development Coordinator, Clinical Practice and Professional Development, UMMC Falls Committee Facilitator
The University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC) is fully committed to reducing the incidence of patients suffering falls while in our care. It is a key component of patient safety. While falls are not consistently a challenge in every patient care area, the Medical Center in FY 2012 incurred a total of 418 falls, of which 102 resulted in injury. Consequently, fall prevention at UMMC has been targeted as a hospital-wide process improvement initiative, and planning is in progress to extend this program to all hospitals within the University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS). The Medical-Surgical Progressive Care Unit on Gudelsky 5 East has been successful in reducing their fall rate. Armed with enthusiasm, empowerment, and diligence, the staff of this unit developed and implemented a falls-prevention bundle. This project incorporated the multidisciplinary team and forged a strong partnership to prevent falls and dramatically decrease fall rates. The accomplishments and successful strategies of Gudelsky 5 East were the impetus for the UMMC Falls Committee to coordinate and implement a hospital-wide falls prevention bundle. This initiative, the Falls Prevention Program, is focused on decreasing the number of UMMC falls by engaging clinical and non-clinical staff, patients, and visitors. The program objectives are to: ◗◗ Standardize the approach to falls prevention at the unit level; ◗◗ Enhance knowledge of contributing factors and prevention measures related to falls; ◗◗ Cultivate a sense of pride and ownership in falls prevention; and ◗◗ Achieve excellence in patient satisfaction scores for staff responsiveness to call lights. The first phase of the UMMC Falls Prevention Program required that every unit designate a “falls champion” to be in charge of the program execution in his or her clinical area. With the support of
senior leadership, directors of nursing, nurse managers, and the UMMC Falls Committee, the second phase involved educating falls champions about program details, expected outcomes, and role responsibilities. The UMMC Falls Committee offered a total of 16 drop-in education sessions over four weeks. Falls champions will facilitate the implementation of the falls prevention program, and they will monitor compliance with the critical components of the program. The full implementation of the program relies on falls champions and unit-level leadership. The complete implementation of the falls prevention program in all patient care areas, with the exception of pediatric units, is targeted for autumn of 2012. Each unit champion received a falls tracking board with tools for posting, clinical and non-clinical self-learning modules, templates of daily and post-fall huddles, and a guide to standardized post-fall management. Every staff member will sign a commitment to prevent falls upon completion of the self-learning module.
Call Don’t Fall
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Lisa Rowen’s Rounds: Magnet Conference 2012 Last month, many Medical Center nurses and I had the privilege of attending the American Nurse Credentialing Center’s (ANCC) National Magnet Conference. The conference theme was “Reaching for the Stars” and over 7,000 nurses from across the country as well as many other countries traveled to Los Angeles to share evidence-based practices with each other. Conference attendees were nurses and others in a variety of roles who are interested in the ongoing improvement of their institution’s nursing care and outcomes, want to learn more about Magnet, and have been selected to showcase best nursing practices for the Magnet community. We were proud to have three live posters, one virtual poster and one concurrent session accepted for presentation. Lisa Rowen, DNSc, RN, FAAN Read on for descriptions of the posters, reflections from conference attendees, and the abstracts accepted by the ANCC. Senior Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer, Nursing and Patient Care Services
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