In this assignment, students will pull together the change proposal project components they have been working on throughout the course to create a proposal inclusive of sections for each content focus

Running head: 0

Nursing

Vanessa Noa

Grand Canyon University

05/10/2020

Nursing

Patient safety is a critical issue in care delivery in skilled nursing facilities (SNFs). Given the complexity arising from the prevention of falls, SNFs need to take better fall prevention practices to enhance the quality of care service delivery. The practices to prevent falls for short-term rehabilitative stays should be tailored by skilled nursing staff and successfully implemented and sustained to align with healthcare priorities that work best for the patients. Different researches by different scholars on patient’s fall give detailed literature on how skilled nursing facilities improve the situation through nurse education to ensure the safety of patients in nursing home healthcare.

Comparison of Research Question

Studies by the eight authors on patient safety as a crucial issue in nursing home healthcare focused on why patient falls are a dominant issue and what can be done to solve the problem. For instance, Katrina, H. (2018), in his research, wants to get detailed knowledge of why falls remain an issue and complex issues and what measures can resolve the issue undermining patient safety. Katrina, H. (2018), Jang and Lee, (2015); and Uymaz and Nahcivan, (2016) their research question studies on how education program is a solution to this challenging issue. Generally, the research by these eight different authors base their question on factors leading to falls and measures to prevent patient falls.

The research questions for the eight studies seeks to research on evidence-based interventions that have shown effectiveness in minimizing patient falls in nursing home healthcare. Kuhlenschmidt et al., (2016) and Minnier et al., (2019) base his research question on falls among cancer patients who need early interventions to help them from getting into the problem. According to the questions in comparison, the problem statement is how healthcare specialists can intervene by exhibiting a positive attitude toward teamwork to find solutions to patient falls.

Comparison of Sample Populations

The eight researches recruit its sample from populations sharing the same charcate4ristics to give reliable and valid findings. In all eight samples, the sample sizes are recommendable because they do not exceed 1000, in which the samples are drawn between 50 to 100 participants. The statistical population of the researches provides researchers with a base for drawing statistical inferences based on a random sample taken from the population (Zhao et al., 2019). For instance, the generalization of patient falls in all researches is based on what causes exists now, ever existed, or what will exist in the future in skilled nursing facilities.

General Findings

The formation of teams, offering education, improved education on falls among community older people, and interprofessional community services can help in combating patient falls within skilled nursing facilities. These methods for fall prevention involve managing of underlying fall risk factors of patients (Howard, 2018). The methods focus on education as a training tool for nurses and patients on how the problem takes place and how it can be prevented.

Comparison of The Limitations of The Study

Characteristics of design or methodology impact and influence the findings’ interpretation from the research, hence leading to a significant limitation. The characteristics are constraints on generalizability and applications of the findings to practice (S. R., 2016). Also, the study limitations are its flaws resulting from the unavailability of resources, small sample size, and flawed methodologies (Murray, 2016). There is no evident study that is flawless or includes all likely aspects. Therefore, the listing of the limitations reflects transparency and honesty in findings. These limitations undermine the answering of the research questions; hence the study cannot address them correctly.

Accessing the target population is a limitation. The studies depended on accessing patients, skilled nursing facilities, and the authority to access confidential information of patients. In the healthcare setting, patient confidentiality and privacy is critical and strictly followed. In the data collection section, this issue may undermine getting reliable and valid results that can display a comparison on answering the research question. Further, inadequate literature review limits the reliability of the research (Sullivan, et al., 2015). Literature in any research forms a basis for the researcher to set a strong foundation for achieving the objectives. If literature is unavailable, the research problem becomes narrow and cannot guarantee to solve the problem under study.

Conclusion and Recommendations

Prevention of falls in the elderly long-term care facilities is critical to patient safety.

Elderly is vulnerable to falls and fall-related injuries within skilled nursing facilities. The implementation of educational programs to equip nurses with detailed knowledge on curbing patient falls will improve patient safety. Among pediatric patients, evidence-based interventions can help in preventing falls. Studies have evaluated the effectiveness of interventions and strategies on the incidence of falls in nursing home patients. Giving skills and motivating staff is essential in long-term care facilities since nurses learn how to follow guidelines in maintaining patient safety. It is recommendable that;

1. Involvement of pediatric staff to influence the program’s success

2. Inspire nurses to develop a positive attitude to attain interprofessional teamwork events’ goals

3. Educate patients on medications to assist in reducing the risk of falls

4. Customize education program to keep with the perceived risk of falls among patients

References

Howard, K. (2018). Improving Fall Rates Using Bedside Debriefings and Reflective Emails: One Unit’s Success Story. MEDSURG Nursing, 27(6), 388–391.

Jang, M., & Lee, Y. (2015). The Effects of an Education Program on Home Renovation for Fall Prevention of Korean Older People. Educational Gerontology, 41(9), 653–669. https://doi.org/10.1080/03601277.2015.1033219

Kuhlenschmidt, M. L., Reeber, C., Wallace, C., Yanwen Chen, Barnholtz-Sloan, J., & Mazanec, S. R. (2016). Tailoring Education to Perceived Fall Risk in Hospitalized Patients with Cancer: A Randomized, Controlled Trial. Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing, 20(1), 84–89. https://doi.org/10.1188/16.CJON.84-89

Minnier, W., Leggett, M., Persaud, I., & Breda, K. (2019). Four Smart Steps: Fall Prevention for Community-Dwelling Older Adults. Creative Nursing, 25(2), 169–175. https://doi.org/10.1891/1078-4535.25.2.169

Murray, E. (2016). Quality Improvement. Implementing a Pediatric Fall Prevention Policy and Program. Pediatric Nursing, 42(5), 256–259.

Sullivan, K., Charrette, A., Massey, C., Bartlett, D., Walker, C., Bond, I., … Fong, J. J. (2015). Interprofessional education with a community fall prevention event. Journal of Interprofessional Care, 29(4), 374–376. https://doi.org/10.3109/13561820.2014.969834

Uymaz, P. E., & Nahcivan, N. O. (2016). Evaluation of a nurse-led fall prevention education program in Turkish nursing home residents. Educational Gerontology, 42(5), 299–309. https://doi.org/10.1080/03601277.2015.1109403

Zhao, Y. (Lucy), Bott, M., He, J., Kim, H., Park, S. H., & Dunton, N. (2019). Evidence on Fall and Injurious Fall Prevention Interventions in Acute Care Hospitals. Journal of Nursing Administration, 49(2), 86–92. https://doi.org/10.1097/NNA.0000000000000715