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PICOT Question Paper Mananita Gerochi-Caparas Grand Canyon University NRS-493-O503 Professional Capstone and Practicum Davida Murphy Smith September 18, 2022

PICOT Question Paper

PICOT Question

In elderly adult patients in the outpatient radiology clinic (P) what is the effect of placing push button alarms while changing in the dressing room (I) compared with no alarm system (C) reducing the incidence of falls (O) within four weeks (T)?

PICOT Problem

Falls are the most common and severe risk factors among elderly patients in any healthcare setting. It has been found that disability and morbidity are the leading factors resulting in falls among the elderly. Falls may develop severe injuries and a significant risk of death within the organization (Ang, Low & How, 2020). Some additional causal factors, such as chronic conditions, medications, hazards within the environmental setting (radiology setting), and other age factors, like low balance, may have significant risks to the fall. Changing clothes is a primary or daily personal duty that may also develop risks among the elderly towards falls. While seeking the services or screening for multiple tests in a radiology clinic, there is a need for undressing and putting on a gown (Berková & Berka, 2018). Therefore, it is vital to understand that there is a need for assistance when an elderly patient tries to change their clothes, as poor balance while changing clothes may result in falls. Since changing clothes is a private act, healthcare staff cannot provide necessary services or support.

Nursing Intervention

An adequate nursing intervention would be providing support services to the elderly when they are in the dressing room of the clinical radiology setting. Therefore, patients are equipped with the push button alarms in clinical settings, where they would receive adequate support services while they are in the dressing room while changing (Santiago et al., 2017). Pressing the button will alert or inform the nurses to provide and connect to patients to understand their requirements. It has been found that such a portable alarm unit is efficient for the care providers as they would be able to identify the needs and provide the needful support to the patients (Wang, Ellul & Azzopardi, 2020). While changing clothes in the clinical setting, there could be a need for assistance in balancing and wearing oversized dresses or gowns. Therefore, the push button alarm is identified as an evidence-based intervention in healthcare to improve the overall health outcome.

Clinical Problem and Patient Outcome

The push button alarm would help and empower the elderly to have immediate and emergent accessibility to the help of nurses or technicians while performing any tasks or after any accident. Prompt attention and care should be provided to the elderly after the incident of falls. Therefore, the usage of push-button alarms would develop a significant enhancement in addressing the overall needs of patients. The clinical problems of falls would reduce with the effective implementation of push button alarms as it would also help provide emergency care services. Therefore, the push-button alarm system's performance would help develop a quicker way of delivering care services. More immediate intervention and identification of clinical issues or risks would help improve the overall patient outcome.

References

Ang, G. C., Low, S. L., & How, C. H. (2020). Approach to falls among the elderly in the community. Singapore medical journal, 61(3), 116–121. https://doi.org/10.11622/smedj.2020029

Berková, M., & Berka, Z. (2018). Falls: a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in elderly people. Pády: významná příčina morbidity a mortality seniorů. Vnitrni lekarstvi, 64(11), 1076–1083.

Santiago, J., Cotto, E., Jaimes, L. G., & Vergara-Laurens, I. (2017, January). Fall detection system for the elderly. In 2017 IEEE 7th Annual Computing and Communication Workshop and Conference (CCWC) (pp. 1-4). IEEE.

Wang, X., Ellul, J., & Azzopardi, G. (2020). Elderly fall detection systems: A literature survey. Frontiers in Robotics and AI, 7, 71. https://doi.org/10.3389/frobt.2020.00071