Fall Prevention and Restraints
Chicago Tribune had an article about the Joint Commission's new campaign to help prevent falls in health care settings and in nursing homes. Millions of Americans are injured in falls each year, and many of them are preventable with proper supervision and safety devices. The Joint Commission's new campaign includes brochures on prevention tips. These are things like exercise to improve balance; turning on lights when entering dark rooms; and getting help before trying to get out of a bed.
The commission's president, Dr. Mark Chassin, points out that falls can cause life-threatening injuries and can even be fatal. And he says following these simple precautions can really help.
Restraints are not typically used in nursing homes. However, in some situations restraints are necessary to prevent a fall incident. The percentage of nursing home patients with restraints fell to 5% in 2007, down more than half from 1999, according to a recent report from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
Roughly 11% of all nursing home patients had restraints at the end of the last decade, according to the 2009 National Healthcare Disparities Report from AHRQ. Restraint use was at 6% in 2006.
Nursing home residents who are physically restrained for long periods are prone to pressure sores and other problems, such as chronic constipation or incontinence as well as emotional problems, according to AHRQ.
