Fall Prevention: Bed Safety

Many falls in long-term care facilities occur from bed. Falls occur when residents try to get out of bed on their own, most often to go to the bathroom to meet toileting needs. These falling events are associated with significant physical and psychological complications. This course is designed to assist long-term care staff in understanding why residents fall from bed and in designing strategies aimed at preventing bed falls.

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Objectives

Upon completion of this course participants will be able to:

  1. Identify reasons for bed falls.
  2. Discuss strategies to reduce the risk of bed falls and injury.
  3. Describe devices used to guard against bed falls and injury.
  4. State the importance of a bed mobility assessment.
  5. Recognize environmental factors contributing to bed falls and strategies aimed at modifying unsafe conditions.

Curriculum

Chapter 1: Introduction

  • Risk Factors for Bed-Related Falls
  • Causes of Bed-Related Falls and Injury

Chapter 2: Steps in Reducing Bed-Related Falls

  • Assessment
  • Performance-Based Bed Mobility Screen
  • Communicating Fall Risk
  • Post-Fall Bed Assessment

Chapter 3: Strategies to Reduce Bed Falls

  • Medical Interventions
  • Rehabilitative Interventions
  • Nursing Interventions

Chapter 4: Environmental Strategies

  • Beds
  • Floor Surfaces
  • Lighting
  • Bed Safety Checklist

Chapter 5: Strategies to Reduce Falls and Injury

  • Bed Side Rails
  • Side Rail Risk Assessment
  • Nurse Call Bells
  • Sitters
  • Cushioned Floor Mats
  • Hip Pads
  • Helmets
  • Fixed and Adjustable Low Beds
  • Body Pillows
  • Fall Alarms
  • Ineffective Fall Alarms
  • Strategies for Improving the Effectiveness of Fall Alarms
  • Bed Safety Checklist

Chapter 6: Follow Up/Monitoring

  • Environment
  • Meeting Basic Needs
  • Daily Monitoring of Fall Risk

Chapter 7: Bed Safety Audits

  • Audit Process

Chapter 8: Achieving Success with Bed Safety

  • Adhere to a Clinical Process
  • Provide Education
  • Establish a Multidisciplinary Committee
  • Ensure Administrative Support
  • California Bill 241
  • Implicit Bias in Healthcare
  • What is Implicit Bias?
  • Implications of Implicit Bias in Healthcare
  • How to Reduce Implicit Bias

Price: $12.00

Contact Hour: 1

Course Author

Rein Tideiksaar

Rein Tideiksaar, PhD, PA-C, or Dr. Rein as he is commonly referred to, is the president of Fall Prevent, LLC, Blackwood, New Jersey, a consulting company that provides educational, legal, and marketing services related to fall prevention in the elderly.

Dr. Tideiksaar is a gerontologist, which is a health care professional who specializes in working with elderly patients, and a geriatric physician's assistant. He has been active in the area of fall prevention for over thirty years. 

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Course Accreditation

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