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Introduction

Falls have a significant impact on society and the literature indicates that individuals over 65 years face a higher fall risk, which is increased once an individual is over 80 years (Clyburn and Heydemann, 2011; Hartholt Oudshoorn, Zielinski, Burgers, Panneman, van Beeck, Patka, and van der Cammen, 2011; Vu et al., 2014). Falling can be a life-altering, harmful event and can have an exponential impact on treatment costs (Vu et al., 2014; WHO, 2007). Falls occur in the community and in hospitals. If a fall occurs while a patient is at the hospital, depending on fall severity, then costs may increase owing to the need for additional tests, consultations with specialists, surgery and medications (Woolcott et al., 2012). Hospital stay is bound to increase, particularly if falls prevent patients from returning home. The patient may have an extended hospital stay as s/he waits for placement in a long-term care setting. By implementing fall prevention strategies, hospital staff can reduce unnecessary healthcare costs, while improving patient outcomes and service quality. Focusing on fall prevention strategies allows hospital staff to adhere to quality and safe healthcare accreditation standards in Canada (Accreditation Canada, 2013).

Objective

Our research documents the need to implement a fall prevention strategy in the emergency department (ED) at a hospital in Northern Ontario, Canada. Our objectives were to identify patients at a high risk of falling and to track ED patient falls incidence. We identify the strategies for preventing falls in hospitals and explain how a fall risk assessment tool is implemented. Two hypotheses were considered: H1.

There will be no difference in the fall risk among men and women above 65 years in response to the fall risk assessment tool.

H2.

There will be no difference in the fall risk among men and women above 80 years in response to the fall risk assessment tool.

Background

Based on the American National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators (NDNQI), falls include accidents (e.g. when a patient slips on a wet floor); unanticipated physiological falls (e.g. when an individual faints); and anticipated physiological falls (i.e. falls that can be anticipated when a patient’s risk factors are known) (Lach, 2010; Trepanier and Hilsenbeck, 2014). We focus on anticipated physiological falls, which can be...

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