I need the peer response for the discussion.
An Evidence Based Practice that has been implemented in the Emergency Department I work in, is the initiative in the prevention of frequent falls. Frequent falls is a concern a major concern for patient safety. Healthcare professionals must stay mindful that this is an ongoing issue and promote awareness. An ideal start in raising awareness is asking questions on why it happens so frequently, what we can do to minimize frequency, how we can prevent falls and what we can do to reduce the incidence of falls . One initiative that was implemented is to screen patients in triage that come in and to provide a fall risk scale during their triage. This helps determine if they are at risk. Once it is determined that they are high risk, then have fall risk bands placed on their wrist. A second initiative is to apply yellow socks on fall risk patients and to make sure the bed is in a low position and the side rails of the ED gurney are up so the patient will not roll out. One issue with this initiative is that it must be used by every staff member. If the initial triage is missed, then the patient isn’t assessed for falls and becomes a risk. Another issue is that some healthcare providers do not consider the mind-altering medications that are being given to patients that can pose a greater risk for falls. At times patient have been treated in the ED in a rapid treatment room and they are given morphine and then sent back out to the lobby to wait for results. These types of patients should be considered a fall risk as well. One model that could be used is Kotter’s 8 step model. It includes eight steps, including: establish a sense of urgency, create a guiding coalition, develop a vision and strategy, communicate the change vision, empower broad-based action, generate short-term wins, consolidate gains to produce more change and anchor change in the organizational culture (Melnyk, 2019). A well-set organizational plan should be followed to properly prevent falls.
Reference:
Melnyk B. M. & Fineout-Overholt, E. (2019). Evidence-based practice in nursing
and healthcare: A guide to practice (4th ed.). Waltham, MA: Wolters-Kluwer. (ISBN: 9781496384539)
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