Relationship between occurrence of falls and fall-risk scores in an acute care setting using the Hendrich II fall risk model.

Abstract

In this study, HIIFRM scores were related to falls among inpatients in an acute care hospital who had a diabetes diagnosis, but not a heart failure diagnosis. The differ ences between patient groups based on medical diagnoses suggest the instrument does not perform equally across patient groups, nursing skill levels, or clinical units. Though the findings are statistically significant, the clinical concemrn remains that a large percentage of patients who fell were scored as low risk using the HIIFRM instrument. At some level, every patient admitted to an acute care hospital is at risk for falls. Patients sick enough to be in the hospital have underlying disease, are receiving physiologically altering medications and treatments, and are likely experiencing pain, fatigue, anxiety, sleep disturbance, and other symptoms that interfere with cognitive and physical functioning. The key to preventing falls among hospitalized patients may lie in addressing how the hospital environment creates risk. Nurses should continue to improve the ability to assess fall risk and implement interventions that modify or eliminate risk when possible.