Falls & drops in LTC

Nurses Safety

Published

Hi,

I'm a new CNA and have been reading posts on this forum for a couple of months now. I became a member today because I have a question and need advice.

I would like to know how often residents fall or are dropped in LTC facilities? The other day, I had the buckle on a sit to stand pop open and the resident went down. I've been told I may not have had it latched correctly. Later, I was told this same thing had happened twice in one week to one resident (don't know if it was the same CNA, belt or lift.) I've wondered how often this happens and if there are things that can cause them to pull out? How reliable and sturdy are the buckles? Will things like weight, resident twisting, or belt being threaded backwards cause it to unhook?

It also seems like if we worked in teams, it would be safer for both resident and staff and more efficient at every level. I can think of dozens of reasons why having a partner with you would be a good idea. I'd suggested it, but management says it's up to my hall partner that day. Does anyone have stats on how teamwork has helped safety in their facility?

Thanks!

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Specializes in LTC, MDS, Education.

Hi KindHeart and welcome to allnurses! What you have described sounds like a defective piece of equipment. Or, the wrong type of lift for the resident. I hope your charge nurse has written up an incident report in each instance. It would be good if you also put it in writing, keeping it short and simple including who you reported it to. Lawyers get very excited $$$$ over these types of occurances, not to mention the state surveyors! Ideally, the piece of equipment should be red-tagged and hidden away somewhere where it won't be used again. The company where it was purchased should be notified immediately so they can come pick it up and leave a "loaner". I commend you for your concern and wish you the best in your new job! :yeah:

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Thanks for your reply! I do think my facility did everything they should AFTER the fact. The resident was taken very good care of and thankfully she seems fine. But, knowing that this happened two other times in the week prior to my incident makes me wonder all the more about safety. And, regardless of the cause, it seems many of the injuries to either resident or staff could be prevented with teamwork.

I'm still curious how often drops and falls happen in LTC. Anyone want to comment?

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I've been a CNA for about 1.5 years and I've never dropped anyone. I only know of 2 incidents in that time where others have dropped a resident. I've had 3 residents of mine fall on their own. One was trying to transfer herself, one slipped in the bathroom and the other was reaching for something. We have a total of 44 residents and I would say we maybe average 1 fall a week. But, it seems we have a string of a bunch and then none for a while. About the lifts, I've never heard of one slipping or anything but recently we had an in-service about that because the company sent us something about it. HTH

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Specializes in LTC.

I've never dropped anyone, or heard about it either. Fall happen quite a bit though. Usually out of bed. And most of the time it's more like gently rolling onto a mat on the floor.

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Thanks to all who have responded.

It may have been my error only and had thought that until I'd been told it had happened two other times in the week prior to my incident. Operator error would be easy enough to fix and you can bet I'll double and triple check before I ever lift a resident again.

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Specializes in Ortho, Case Management, blabla.

I've never had a lift or gait belt fail on me. I have heard of people sliding out of lifts before. I've also only had one person ever fall on me, and that was in acute care at the hospital. It was because they were impulsive and didn't follow directions on proper walker use. I was actually standing right behind them with my hand on their gait belt but I couldn't stop it from happening. Fortunately they were fine.

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Been in ltc 13+ yrs and never dropped anyone.

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Our facility is a "lift free" facility meaning that employees are not to lift at all (except for bed and chair repositioning). We have hoyer lifts and stand up lifts as well to facilitate a lift free facility. These conveniences require two employees to safely operate. I worked in a facility where the wife of the resident was the second person assisting the hoyer and one evening the lift broke and he hit the floor. Had two employees been assisting him he might not have hit so hard but a seventy-something wife can't do much more than guide the lift pad with him in it as she always did. My current facility requires two employees---one to guide the resident's position safely to avoid injury and one to maneuver the equipment. These are not conveniences so that you may reduce your staff and leave residents and employees in a difficult situation they are for the safety and comfort of the residents and should be used by two employees.

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Specializes in Geriatric (LTC & SNF).

We have lifts in our facility and it is policy that two people must be present when the lifts are in use. I have only had once incident (that comes to mind) where the resident slipped from the sit to stand lift. This incident was not from faulty equipment but from associate error as she was by herself using the lift to transfer the resident. We seem to have our ups and downs with falls. Sometimes we have alot, sometimes we have none. And also the more confused the residents are the higher the chance they will fall.

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