Client Safety: Preventing Falls and the Use of Restraints

Course overview

Preventing patient falls should be a primary goal of all healthcare workers. Part of preventing falls involves knowing why falls occur to identify patients who are likely to fall, to identify situations in which a fall is likely to occur, and to identify staff and environmental issues that might contribute to a fall. Falls are the most common adverse event in hospitals and can have serious consequences. The majority of falls happen when the patient is transferring, or being transferred, from bed to chair or back again. Injuries that do occur tend to be serious and are associated with a high fatality rate. Despite greater awareness of patient fall risk and implementation of fall prevention programs, the incidence of patient falls has increased in the past several decades. Patient falls are still a common and serious problem.