Patient falls

Rehab patients DO fall more...but many of the falls are because the patients are attempting to practice their newly learned skills without waiting for appropriate supervision by the staff.

Look at a baby who is learning to walk...They fall, not because their legs are weak, but because they have not yet fully developed the art and skill of "balance" versus the "effects of gravity".

They must first learn to balance themselves in a sitting position, then creep, crawl and toddle BEFORE they walk. How many times do they actually fall before they take that first independent set of steps?

The patients <wrongly> assume that because the therapist had them "up walking" in a 1:1 therapy session, they are now able to go to the bathroom by themselves.

What they forget is that it took 2 people to get them up, that it was a mod-max assist to stand and that after only 3 feet, they were ready to go back to their bed! <G>