rndebracoll

hi, this is from the rai users manual for long term care, and reflects federal regulations: when a resident is found on the floor, the most logical conclusion is that a fall has occurred. the facility is obligated to investigate and try to determine how he/she got there, and to put into place an intervention to prevent this from happening again. more from that: an intercepted fall is still a fall. an episode where a resident lost his/her balance and would have fallen, were it not for staff intervention, is a fall. a fall without injury is still a fall. the presence or absence of a resultant injury is not a factor in the definition of a fall. the distance to the next lower surface is not a factor in determining whether or not a fall occurred. if a resident rolled off a bed or mattress that was close to the floor, this is a fall.

Hi, The CMS RAI Users Manual for MDS 3.0 has a lot of resources. You can download the book free on their web site: http://www.cms.gov/NursingHomeQualityInits/20_MDS30RAIManual.asp