The medical section fall safety team included registered nurses, licensed vocational nurses, and certified nursing assistants, and included identified champions from each shift of the medical impatient units.
unit champions were identified, trained on fall preventions and intervention, and used as instructors during the patient safety stand-down week. an on-duty, on-call roster was created each month using the current work schedule so one team member was on-call around the clock to respond after a patient fall.
this roster was posted in the charge nurse room on each unit.
if a fall occurred, the fall safety team member went to the location of the fall as soon as possible, completed a post-fall checklist (see figures 1a1b), and facilitated a safety huddle with the nursing staff, patient, and family.
during this safety huddle, evidence-based interventions were discussed and recommendations made to continue to keep the patient safe. additionally, unit staff were alerted to potential causes for the fall and encouraged to check the safety of all other patients on the unit. nursing vigilance was seen as paramount if increased falls were noted across a section
at monthly meetings, representatives brought all post-fall checklists so team members could discuss recent falls throughout the section.
the team made recommendations to nurse leaders for process improvement and targeted evidence-based interventions.
unit champions were responsible for educating staff about trends, safety alerts, and current safety issues.
also, member participated in a patient safety journal club at monthly meetings to examine evidence-based interventions from the literature.
finally, the fall safety team participated as coaches and mentors in different falls training events throughout the hotpital, including team STEPPS simulation and the semiannual nursing skills validation fair.