Professional Capstone and practicum

Running head: PROFESSIONAL CAPSTONE AND PRACTICUM 1

PROFESSIONAL CAPSTONE AND PRACTICUM 5

Falls and Related Injuries

Nanah Kamara Comment by Nelson, Emily Jeanette: Please see my comments in your previous assignment about how to format your title page.

GCU

Falls and Related Injuries

Nurses, being the initial contacts for patients in any most health facilities and the fact they interact or engage with patients more when compared to other providers of care constitute a critical component of the healthcare system. Consequently, nurses play a much huge role in making sure that the healthcare system provides not only safe care but also and care of high standard or quality (Sato, Hase, Osaka, Sairyo & Katoh, 2018). However one of the major healthcare or nursing issue over the years is the fall and associated injuries which have proved not only difficult for healthcare providers and facility to manage. The purpose of this essay is to… Comment by Nelson, Emily Jeanette: Reference needed

For instance, and according to DuPree, Fritz-Campiz & Musheno, (2014), Unintentional falls constitute the highest cause of non-fatal injuries among people over 65 years in the US. Moreover, one in every three individuals above 65 years falls at least one time in a given year. In addition, injuries from falls cause the highest number of accidental deaths among people 65-year-old and above (Tricco, Thomas, Veroniki, Hamid, Cogo, Strifler & Riva, 2017). Such statistics coupled with the extent of the costs associated with fall call for proper intervention to reduce falls and their associated injuries. For instance, the government spends billions of dollars on fall and their associated injuries on treating falls. The prevention of fall would provide increased funds for investment in other social programs aimed at improving both healthcare and addressing social or communal problems (Zakrajsek, Schuster, Wells, Williams & Silverchanz, 2018).

In addition, falls and their related injuries are responsible for almost 15% of the recorded hospitalization. This increases the burden of healthcare providers especially given the numerous stressors like staff shortage, huge workloads, leadership problems and personal factors among others. An increase in falls and associated injury, therefore, is detrimental to the provision of quality care as captured under the healthy 2020 program goal of reducing deaths that result from falls. Comment by Nelson, Emily Jeanette: Reference needed Comment by Nelson, Emily Jeanette: Reference needed

Despite this, falls are very complex and difficult to manage or prevent. Given the implications that falls bear on the patients, the healthcare providers and the healthcare system as a whole (Joseph, Henriksen & Malone, 2018), there has been increased There has been an increased research focus towards fall prevention and reduction strategies. As a result, there exist a significant amount of literature regarding the reduction and prevention of falls. However, the literature regarding the topic I inconclusive and hence makes the study both significant and relevant. Comment by Nelson, Emily Jeanette: Reference needed Comment by Nelson, Emily Jeanette: Avoid using first and second person pronouns in academic writing. Comment by Nelson, Emily Jeanette: Reference needed

Given the background to the association between falls, their associated injuries and improved nursing, this study seeks to explore whether indeed whether awareness creation regarding falls and the available strategies can improve the practice of nursing and consequently better healthcare provision and patient outcomes. To achieve this, the study will be developed using the procedures of evidence-based solutions which involve problem identification, data collection, data analysis and report writing. The PICOT question for the study was whether the creating of awareness regarding safety measures, tools and systems and policies among nurses reduces the prevalence of falls and the related injuries.

The preceding section provides a breakdown of the components in the PICOT question for the study.

P: P or in the population for the study will be nurses

I: Intervention- the development and implementation of an awareness program for nurses.

C: Comparison- Nurses who do not go through the awareness programs.

O: Outcome- Reduced falls, Increased awareness among nurses.

T: Time- 6 months

In conducting the study, a literature review of available documentation regarding awareness creation and hospital falls was carried out with a focus on obtaining data to answer the PICOT question. To ensure that the information collected was not only valid but also accurate, relevant and reliable all sources selected for the study had to have been peer-reviewed. In addition, the sources had to have been developed recently to provide information that was up to date.

Nanah, you described a clinical problem/issue related to nursing practice. You included a PICOT statement developed to address the particular problem with a description of each of the PICOT elements. I noted a few inconsistencies with APA I noted for you. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns! -E Nelson

References

DuPree, E., Fritz-Campiz, A., & Musheno, D. (2014). A new approach to preventing falls with injuries. Journal of nursing care quality, 29(2), 99-102.

Guirguis-Blake, J. M., Michael, Y. L., Perdue, L. A., Coppola, E. L., & Beil, T. L. (2018). Interventions to prevent falls in older adults: updated evidence report and systematic review for the US Preventive Services Task Force. Jama, 319(16), 1705-1716.

Joseph, A., Henriksen, K., & Malone, E. (2018). The architecture of safety: An emerging priority for improving patient safety. Health Affairs, 37(11), 1884-1891.

Sato, N., Hase, N., Osaka, A., Sairyo, K., & Katoh, S. (2018). Falls among Hospitalized Patients in an Acute Care Hospital: Analyses of Incident Reports. The Journal of Medical Investigation, 65(1.2), 81-84.

Tricco, A. C., Thomas, S. M., Veroniki, A. A., Hamid, J. S., Cogo, E., Strifler, L., ... & Riva, J. J. (2017). Comparisons of interventions for preventing falls in older adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Jama, 318(17), 1687-1699.

Zakrajsek, A., Schuster, E., Wells, C., Williams, J., & Silverchanz, P. (2018). CAREGIVERS OF OLDER ADULTS DURING CARE TRANSITIONS: INSIGHTS INTO POSITIVE ASPECTS OF CAREGIVING. Innovation in Aging, 2(suppl_1), 896-896.