Citation

Chang SY, Chen WS, Teng T, Yeh CY, Yen HC. J. Nurs. Care Qual. 2019; 34(2): 139-144.

Affiliation

Departments of Nursing and Oncology (Ms Chang), and Division of Physical Therapy (Mss Teng, Yeh, and Yen), Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (Dr Chen), National Taiwan University Hospital, Taiwan, ROC.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Lippincott Williams and Wilkins)

DOI

10.1097/NCQ.0000000000000353

PMID

30198946

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The incidence of falls on inpatient oncology units indicated the need for quality improvement. This project aimed to reduce falls by implementing a fall reduction plan including the "Traffic Light" Fall Risk Assessment Tool (TL-FRAT). LOCAL PROBLEM: We retrospectively reviewed the oncology unit fall data from January 2013 to September 2014 and found that the average fall incidence was high.

METHODS: The project used a program evaluation design, and the process was guided by Kotter's 8-step change model. INTERVENTIONS: We implemented the TL-FRAT to classify oncology inpatients at a high risk of falling in advance.

RESULTS: The average fall incidence and falls with injury during the project were reduced.

CONCLUSIONS: Adding the TL-FRAT to the fall protocol on the units effectively reduced the incidence of falls related to impaired mobility. The TL-FRAT can improve nurses' sensitivity to falls related to impaired mobility and, subsequently, guide corresponding fall prevention strategies.

Language: en