Feeling guilty about resident falls

[rebellefleur]

I'm a CNA in an assisted living facility. This is my first time working as a CNA. I have been off orientation for two days and a resident I was responsible for has fallen during both shifts. I work in an memory care facility and our residents often like to walk around the facility and the ones who require walkers often forget to use them. This is how the falls occur. I'm feeling extremely guilty because these residents were assigned to me. Is there a way to prevent these falls from happening? Is it normal for me to feel at fault?

[BuckyBadgerRN, ASN, RN]

Alarms do not prevent falls. All they let do is let you know a fall is most likely about to occur. They are considered restraints and some facilities have policies against them. Sometimes families won't authorize them. I do a PRN type of job and there is a resident there who just unclips his alarm, gets up, and falls often.

Alarm use is discouraged by CMS and state surveyors are looking closely at ways facilities are trying to decrease their use. Your comment is very, um, I don't even know what to say...[

QUOTE=valliloves;8643218]Are they not hooked up to alarms when they get out of bed?

[valliloves]

Alarms do not prevent falls. All they let do is let you know a fall is most likely about to occur. They are considered restraints and some facilities have policies against them. Sometimes families won't authorize them. I do a PRN type of job and there is a resident there who just unclips his alarm, gets up, and falls often.

Alarm use is discouraged by CMS and state surveyors are looking closely at ways facilities are trying to decrease their use. Your comment is very, um, I don't even know what to say...[

QUOTE=valliloves;8643218]Are they not hooked up to alarms when they get out of bed?

The comment I made wasn't intended to be an argument to someone else. I apologize if it came off that way.

In our hospital, alarms do prevent falls. We have the striker beds and they are extremely effective because of the zone options. We also round hourly. That's why we've received an A rating from Jayco for patient safety, which only 1/10th of 1% of hospitals have received. As soon as we hear an alarm, everyone runs. I'm not saying that alarms are the holy grail. I was just making an observation.

As far as I understand it, alarms are not considered restraints if it doesn't prevent someone from getting out of bed physically. Perhaps my use of "hooked up to an alarm" gave the wrong impression.

Have a great day! :)

[hookyarnandblanket]

Alarms do not prevent falls. All they let do is let you know a fall is most likely about to occur. They are considered restraints and some facilities have policies against them. Sometimes families won't authorize them. I do a PRN type of job and there is a resident there who just unclips his alarm, gets up, and falls often.

Alarm use is discouraged by CMS and state surveyors are looking closely at ways facilities are trying to decrease their use. Your comment is very, um, I don't even know what to say...[

QUOTE=valliloves;8643218]Are they not hooked up to alarms when they get out of bed?

They are slowly doing away with them in nursing homes in my state. We still use them in our hospital but I wouldn't be surprised if they were phased out in the next couple of years.

You're right: They don't do a very effective job of preventing falls most of the time. We use them mostly to keep an eye on unsteady or disoriented patients. It is all too easy for them to figure out how to turn off the RN alarm boxes and some staff are not food at checking to make sure boxes are charged.