Resident falls everyday

loriangel14, RN · May 13, 2016

Yep. Document and express concerns in writing to someone. Keep a copy.

quiltynurse56, LPN, LVN · May 13, 2016

Yes, document each fall. You probably are suppose to call the family too. Should he be injured, you send him to the hospital.

Boog'sCRRN246, RN · May 13, 2016

Is he cognitively intact? I ask because maybe he could have home health nursing/therapy visits set up and a PT could teach him HOW to fall (I know that sounds absurd, but it's a thing, I promise), so that when he feels himself starting to fall, he can do it as safely as possible and avoid injury. And, again, this would only work if he's cognitively intact, and only as a temporary solution until more appropriate placement can be found.

crazynurse9 · May 13, 2016

Does he fall out of bed, or is he getting up and walking himself?

At my facilty if they are falling out of bed we put a huge fall Mat beside the bed. It's almost like an extra matress. & if they roll onto that it is not considered a fall.

We don't used alarms anymore so I'm not sure if you guys have a bed alarm or chair alarm? That can help.

A lot of our fallers are on 15 min checks also.

as long as your implementing percations I cannot see how it would fall back on you. Document, Document, Document!!!!!

morte, LPN, LVN · May 14, 2016

most of what you suggest can't happen in assisted living, only in a NH

Does he fall out of bed, or is he getting up and walking himself?
At my facilty if they are falling out of bed we put a huge fall Mat beside the bed. It's almost like an extra matress. & if they roll onto that it is not considered a fall.
We don't used alarms anymore so I'm not sure if you guys have a bed alarm or chair alarm? That can help.
A lot of our fallers are on 15 min checks also.
as long as your implementing percations I cannot see how it would fall back on you. Document, Document, Document!!!!!

Nursemngr76 · May 14, 2016

I do fall investigations at the facility I work at. Not all states follow the same guidelines for falls. Maybe you should read up on your state guidelines. In Ohio if the resident touch the floor, roll on to a mat it is considered a fall. Also a resident has a right to fall. You can't stop them and as long as you are documenting everything and putting an immediate intervention for the fall in place No one should get in trouble.

TeaPlease · May 15, 2016

I have zero assisted living experience, but plenty of LTC. If assisted living implements care plans, and if family/staff agree, the "right to fall" can be part of the care plan. Essentially this allows the resident to pursue his own activities & habits without the indignity of being monitored all.the.time. Our policy is to document falls without injury, and incident report falls with injury.

Mhays · May 19, 2016

Thank you for your post. I can understand your frustration because I have been in that same general situation myself both in the geriatric nursing and in the school nursing atmosphere. When I did geriatric nursing for an adult day care facility, I had some experiences like you in that the participants were suppose to be more independent and not needing a lot of total care, but we ended up having some participants who needed total care to the point where we had to feed them and they should be feeding themselves or at least cue them to eat. I think it was a numbers issue and money as well for the company. We as a staff told the director about it and we did mention that there was an assisted living upstairs and a skilled nursing unit as well, but the director wanted them at the adult day care center for as long as the family wanted them to come. We also had some clients who were extremely fall risks and because I am so small and short, I was not allowed to walk with them. Workers who were taller were able to help. If there was an unstable client which we did have who was my size, then I could help them walk. At the school nursing side, I have had students who should not have been in my classroom or who should not have been in the school due to high health needs that were hard for me to meet or high behavioral issues that endangered other students in the classroom. The director however took them due to number of students issues and the money for the school. So, I did a lot of research and asked a lot of questions and handled the situations just fine. Whatever the situation, if you just ask a lot of questions to your supervisor and provide good feedback, I am sure things will work out. I know it is challenging, but it all works out in the end. I wish you the best of good luck. Marcella 5/19/16