Falls and Fall Prevention in Adults
Falls and Fall Prevention in Adults
This actionable evidence-based practice blueprint provides a checklist for clinicians to create an action plan to prevent falls in adult patients and ensure best patient care. This document is revised as needed to incorporate the latest best practices and gold standard of care. The e-book is available free of charge. © 2022 Patient Safety Movement Foundation.
Contributors:
PSMF Team The Challenge
Between 700,000 and 1,000,000 falls occur annually in US hospitals alone, and nearly 40% of elderly patients experience a fall within six months post-discharge. Potential injuries from a fall may include fractures, lacerations, or internal bleeding, putting patients at significantly greater risk of serious outcomes while placing additional burdens on the healthcare system. The direct cost of all fall injuries in older adults was estimated to be $32 billion in 2020. That number could increase to an estimated $240 billion by 2040 when taking into account a growing number of hip fractures experienced by the aging population. Healthcare organizations can significantly reduce the amount of patient harm and deaths caused by falls by successfully implementing the actionable steps outlined in this blueprint.
