MedicalNurseTraining.com

Author: Pat Devaney

New fall identifiers are helping to identify patients and residents at risk.  Once identified, proven technologies and education can significantly reduce risk even after discharge.  Acute Care facilities are struggling to minimize the effect of preventable falls on the facility budget.  We have included a compilation of ideas for your review on fall prevention and fall protection through online falls training coupled with new effective technologies.

This is to announce a tremendous saving in lives and medical costs of over $200 billion yearly.  Most of these savings can be achieved by reducing the risk of falls and protecting against the effect of falls particularly in the population now approaching 60 and above.  New personal use technologies that are relatively unknown to some in the medical field and more often the public, will easily eliminate these useless injuries and death.  The National Center for Patient Safety recently recommended the use of these new approaches.  We are receiving numerous requests to offer this information to the general public and we are eager to perform this public service.

The President of Medical Nurse Training, Inc.,Mr. Devaney, is available to speak to these new technologies and education for your program.  Medical Nurse Training is the premier portal for training nurses and doctors utilizing a nationally known Geriatric Doctor, the Assistant Director of Nursing at Johns Hopkins and Patrick Devaney who has over 25 years experience lecturing on these topic to tens of thousands of nurses, doctors, and healthcare facilities.  Anyone who is above the age of 55 or has a relative, who is at risk for falls, is confused or agitated, has Alzheimer’s, or presents elopement risks at home will be very interested in this new material.

Mr. Devaney’s mother died as the result of an unnecessary hip fracture.  This loss would have easily been prevented with one of these new devices or education techniques.  Numerous lives have already been saved with these clinically proven devices.

We have partnered with the leading manufacturers of these low cost medical technologies to provide these devices predominately available only through hospitals and nursing homes to the general public at an institutional price.

By going to www.MedicalNurseTraining.com you can get a broad overview of the types of programs we offer to the medical community and review our blogs.  We would welcome a discussion of how your program and listeners/viewers will greatly benefit from this information. This piece will be of interest to most, if not all. These medically sound approaches have gotten attention and will reduce government costs in the trillions of dollars over the next 10 years.  You can also review clinical references on this site.

Medical Nurse Training provides the latest on-line training to Doctors and Nurses on fall prevention and protection.  This includes in-house education on devices that will reduce injury from falls and related deaths.

Hip Protectors – High Impact – absorbing pads that help protect hip bones against injury from falls.  About 320,000 people suffer a hip fracture every year.  These pads are built into briefs, panties, sweat pants and sweat shorts.  They can easily be laundered and re-used numerous times to help protect from falls.  The use of these devices has been clinically proven to reduce injury.  Many individuals that experience a fall are afraid to continue normal activities like walking.  These devices help these people resume a normal life.  Hip Fracture is one of the leading causes of death in older individuals.  Our experience shows that hip protectors are generally not known by the general public

Fall Alarms – Inexpensive bed and chair exit electronic monitors otherwise known as Fall Alarms, assist with the observation of patients and family members to help reduce falls and the potential for elopement from home or a facility.  A variety of sensor accessories may be used including toileting sensors, bed/chair sensors, infrared sensors and self releasing sensors may be attached to the monitor to reduce risk.  These alarms include a gentle voice reminder not to get up without assistance.  Many of these devices are unknown to the general public.

Floor Cushions and Bath Mats – Certain areas of the home are a very high risk for injury from falls like the bathroom.  Special floor cushions and bath mats are designed to help reduce the impact from a fall and are frequently talked about in the clinical literature.  These floor cushions are tri-fold in design, making them convenient to carry to areas requiring the most immediate protection.  Bathrooms are also very high risk zones. The sure step bath mat can be used to significantly reduce the impact of a fall. The mat is impervious to water and bacterial growth and can be custom cut to fit the contours of any bathtub or floor.

Please go to www.MedicalNurseTraining.com for more information on these programs and devices. A consumer section with numerous new fall prevention and fall protection devices will appear on the site shortly. In the meantime you are welcome to email us with your immediate needs.

Medical Nurse Training, Inc. announces two programs that will increase patient settlements, assist representation at trial, and bring Attorneys state of the art fall prevention and protection training.

Medical Nurse Training is the premier portal for training nurses and doctors utilizing a nationally known Geriatric Doctor, the Assistant Director of Nursing at Johns Hopkins and Patrick Devaney who has over 25 years experience lecturing on these topic to tens of thousands of nurses, doctors, lawyers, and healthcare facilities. The assistant director of Nursing at Johns Hopkins, an expert legal medical witness, demonstrates the current standards of care in fall prevention and bed safety.  Also discussed in detail, are the legal ramifications of not following these practices.

Root causes and specific solutions for patient falls, resident falls, and in home falls are also described in detail in this on line or DVD based program. There are two low cost accredited programs that include Acute Care and Long Term Care/Home Care.  Independent Falls Consultant, Jaime Cole stated, “The flow of the program is very impressive and easy to follow along with since it is predominately lecture video with side by side PowerPoint.”  Protocols and over 400 pages of other resources are also included that cover nearly every aspect of this topic.  

Numerous current tools, statistics, pictures, and videos will be useful in any pretrial brief or trial proceedings.  Medical Nurse Training, Inc. provides continuous updates through their website that are sure to provide incredible insight to any Firm with valuable monthly blogs and newsletters. This program will bring added value to all personal injury cases with many statistical benchmarks, deferential analysis, and standards of care.

For more information about the programs available from Medical Nurse Training, Inc., please visit http://www.medicalnursetraining.com.

Author: Pat Devaney

Date: 5-18-2009

This is to announce a tremendous saving in lives and medical costs of over 200 billion dollars yearly. Most of these savings can be achieved by reducing the risk of falls and protecting against the effect of falls particularly in the population now approaching 60 and above. New personal use technologies that are relatively unknown to some in the medical field and more often the public can easily eliminate these useless injuries and death.. National Center for Patient Safety recently recommended the use of these new approaches. We are receiving numerous requests to offer this information to the general public and we are willing to perform this public service.

The President of Medical Nurse Training, Mr. Devaney is available to speak to these new technologies and education for your program. Medical Nurse Training is the premier portal for training nurses and doctors utilizing a nationally known Geriatric Doctor, the Assistant Director of Nursing at Johns Hopkins and Patrick Devaney who has over 25 years of experience lecturing on these topic to tens of thousands of nurses, doctors and healthcare facilities. Anyone who is above the age of 55 or has a relative, who is at risk for falls, is confused or agitated, has Alzheimer’s, or presents elopement risks at home will be very interested in this new material.

Mr. Devaney’s mother died as the result of an unnecessary hip fracture. This loss could have easily been prevented with one of these new devices or education techniques. Numerous lives have already been saved with these clinically proven devices.

We have partnered with the leading manufacturers of these low cost medical technologies to provide these devices predominately available only through hospitals and nursing homes to the general public at an institutional price.

By going to www.MedicalNurseTraining.com you can get a broad overview of the types of programs we offer to the medical community and review our blogs. We would welcome a discussion of how your program and listeners/viewers will greatly benefit from this information. This piece will be of interest to most if not all. These medically sound approaches will eventually get attention and will reduce government costs in the trillions of dollars over the next 10 years. You can also review clinical references on this site.

Medical Nurse Training provides the latest on-line training to Doctors and Nurses on fall prevention and protection. This includes in-house education on devices that will reduce injury from falls and related deaths.

Hip Protectors – High Impact – absorbing pads that help protect hip bones against injury from falls. About 320,000 people suffer a hip fracture every year.  These pads are built into briefs, panties, sweat pants and sweat shorts. They can easily be laundered and re-used numerous times to help protect from falls. The use of these devices has been clinically proven to reduce injury. Many individuals that experience a fall are afraid to continue normal activities like walking. These devices help these people resume a normal life. Hip Fracture is one of the number one causes of death in older individuals. Our experience shows that hip protectors are generally not known by the general public

Fall Alarms – Inexpensive bed and chair exit electronic monitors otherwise known as Fall Alarms, assist with the observation of patients and family members to help reduce falls and the potential for elopement from home or a facility. A variety of sensor accessories may be used including toileting sensors, bed/chair sensors, infrared sensors and self releasing sensors may be attached to the monitor to reduce risk. These alarms include a gentle voice reminder not to get up without assistance. Many of these devices are unknown to the general public.

Floor Cushions and Bath Mats – Certain areas of the home are very high risk for injury from falls like the bathroom. Special floor cushions and bath mats are designed to help reduce the impact from a fall and are frequently talked about in the clinical literature. These floor cushions are tri-fold in design, making them convenient to carry to areas requiring the most immediate protection. Bathrooms are also very high risk zones. The sure step bath mat can be used to significantly reduce the impact of a fall. The mat is impervious to water and bacterial growth and can be custom cut to fit the contours of any bathroom or floor.

Please go to www.MedicalNurseTraining.com for more information on these programs and devices. A consumer section with numerous new fall prevention and protection devices will appear on the site shortly. In the meantime you are welcome to email us with your immediate needs.

In recent months there have been side rail entrapments resulting in injury and death. Recent Joint Commission and CMS surveys have punctuated this high risk trend.

The Clinical Guidance for the Clinical Assessment and Implementation of Bed Rails from the Bed Safety workgroup and the FDA is the operating tool to reduce this risk. The use of this tool and other current resources for increasing patient and resident safety are included in the 3 credit hour program from www.MedicalNurseTraining.com . This program details the risk of side rails and offers everyday practical solutions to reduce the incidence of bed entrapment and fall related injury.

This program draws on Joint Commission recommendations included in the REDUCING THE RISK OF FALLS in your Health Care Organization by Joint Commission Resources. The program follows the evidence based protocols of such organizations as Johns Hopkins and relates these programs to practical solutions.

It also utilizes the recommendations of the National Center for Patient Safety and many other facility based solutions in a 400 page resource CD or downloadable on line program.

Delving deeper into the clear recommendations of Joint Commission include the use of numerous environmental changes as well as devices that protect patients and residents:

“Hip protectors are a good intervention for care recipients with dementia or other cognitive defects. They allow the care recipient to be active while helping to prevent hip fractures if they fall.”

“A safe room has devices such as nonskid floor mats and a commode placed at a 90-degree angle to the bed”

“Bed Exit Alarms, Chair Exit Alarms, Voice Alarms telling the patient not to get up because a nurse would come by shortly to help, Freedom Splints (sleeves that fit over the forearm and upper arm) to reduce the risk of the patient pulling out tubes, Torso supports to maintain the patients posture and positioning, Mitts to keep the patient from pulling out IVs and nasogastric tubes, Antiskid Floor Mats, and Antislip footwear”

All of the above recommendations appear in the REDUCING THE RISK OF FALLS in your Health Care Organization by Joint Commission Resources

I would suggest that a great way to review these types of devices would be to go to www.posey.com for a review from a premier manufacturer of patient safety devices. You will also find a complete selection of up to date side rail alternatives, seizure side rail pads and side rail protectors to help your facility become FDA compliant.

Written by Patrick Devaney, Medical Nurse Training, Inc. 

Written By:  Patrick Devaney, Author & Contributor

Facilities have been struggling with developing successful in house falls programs current with Joint Commission Goal # 9  for 2009 . This also includes updating restraint policies current to the new CMS guidelines and Bed Safety Workgroup recommendations for bed safety. Many of these regulations require a full time regulatory interpreter to disseminate these complicated tools, falls and restraint assessment recommendations. Additionally, development of new policies and protocols is costly and very time consuming.

Why reinvent the wheel? The training program from www.MedicalNurseTraining.com includes all the information any facility requires to meet all of these challenges. The program includes restraint and falls protocols from such great facilities as Johns Hopkins, with in depth training tools to implement these programs to all staff. The program also includes a significant number of policies and procedures to fit any facilities needs.

The challenge was to bring all the information a hospital or long term care facility would require into one easy to use program with DVD or On-line accredited training and downloadable resources manual. The feedback from facilities has been incredible.

“Thank you for saving us so much time and effort, we had a great survey” are typical of the comments we have received. You can check it out for yourself and see clips of the program or view videos of attendee’s testimonials. I fell very confident that this is by far the best program I have ever seen for hospital and long term care fall, restraint and patient safety.

The difficulty with many programs continues to be they are not evidence based, they are out of date, they do not focus on identification of  patients or residents at risk for falls and do not focus enough on prediction of fall. Correlating fall injury rates to a performance improvement profile is discussed in detail. Included are numerous plans of corrective action if your facility is above the national benchmark for restraints or falls.

Many times injury from fall, particularly in view of the new Medicare reimbursement changes of  October 2008, can create a huge financial burden on facilities. There are numerous devices that significantly reduce harm from falls. These may include but are not limited to fall alarms, hip protectors, floor fall cushions, seating and positioning products, self releasing devices, alternatives to side rails and high fall risk patient and resident identifiers.

Many of these patient safety devices are discussed in detail in this program relative to standard of care. For a complete review of these types of devices I would suggest going to the Posey Company at www.posey.com to see all the devices available from a leader in the fields of restraint alternatives, bed safety, fall prevention, fall protection and patient safety.

The utilization of the national database of nursing quality indicators is reviewed in detail. This will help to reduce the effect of costly negative surveys to your facility. The use and application of a variety of  fall indicator scales like Dr. Morse Scale are reviewed for current relevance and efficacy.

A complete review of current root cause analysis is also included. The top root causes for falls have changed and include patient assessment, care planning, physical environment, alarm systems and communication into an evidence based protocol. We will continue to update the program with current reviews of all the relevant material to keep your facility up to date.

Thanks for taking the time to review this weeks blog and for your concern for better patient care.

Medical Nurse Training presents a one credit hour program on fall prevention and protection from Maria Cvach ADON at Johns Hopkins. This program includes in depth evidence based information on the very successful Johns Hopkins fall protocol and an implementation of a complete falls and bed safety program in an institutional setting. Many important variables are elaborated to crystallize the elements of a successful program. Alternatives to and the use of restraints are also discussed in detail in this offering.

Hospital fall related injuries are very costly. Many facilities incur legal costs well over one million dollars per year in fall related incidents. The human costs are even more devastating if you look at loss of life and lifetime costs associated with hip fractures. Many of these falls are totally preventable using the devices and protocols utilized and developed at Johns Hopkins. Annually 270,000 hip fractures are now associated with approximately $85,000 in lifetime costs. For those admitted to a facility following a hip fracture only about 50% survive. This online fall prevention program is an effective way to reduce these grim statistics.

Joint Commission guidelines require significant reductions in “the risk of patients and residents harm from falls.” One company that provides the types of devices recommended to reduce this risk is the J.T. Posey Company. I would encourage any facility or individual to visit their website www.posey.com for a great deal of educational and device offerings in the bed safety, fall prevention and fall protection area. For the most at risk patients the Posey Bed considered by Joint Commission as the least restrictive restraint may be a great alternative for at risk patients. Our understanding is that this device is now utilized by over 600 facilities to reduce fall risk. Maria Cvach describes the use of this device at Johns Hopkins.

Root causes and specific solutions for patient falls are also described in detail in this on line or DVD program. I like the flow of the program since it is predominately lecture video with side by side PowerPoint. Protocols and over 400 pages of other resources are also included. The effect of staffing levels, communication, staff orientation and training with real evidence based solutions are included. I would suggest caregivers take a good look at the clips and testimonials at the site www.MedicalNurseTraining.com to see the superb value to their facility.

As always care planning and organizational involvement are the essence of any successful fall program. Maria describes the best interventions to achieve the objectives of reducing risk and minimizing injury from falls. Practical ideas for the implementation and evaluation of these programs is discussed in an easy to understand format. Orientation and training of staff is a key element of the success of her program. Fall prevention is an ongoing training dilemma and Maria brings a great number of fresh ideas to your facility. Let’s see what we can all do to reduce hospital falls and falls in nursing homes.

Falls Interventions for patients include – Safe Environment Individualized Interventions for High Fall Risk Patients Bed Safety and Fall Device Evaluation and Selection

Author: Pat Devaney, program contributor

Environmental design and setup very often create unique challenges  including how patient rooms are set up to avoid patient falls and the surrounding potential injury. The 3 hour train the trainer program from Medical Nurse Training demonstrates several safe room set ups for at risk patients.

This program indicates the use of fall devices like beveled floor mats for up to 92% reduction in injury from facility beds including low beds. Additionally the bed safety portion of the program indicates the use of bedside walkers and bedside commode to help enable the patient or resident.

Since four side rails are a restraint, the use of roll guards and perimeter mattress overlays is also recommended to reduce the incidence of restraint orders. One side rail can also be utilized to enable easy bed exit.

Bed alarms are becoming more prevalent to remind the patient to call for help and alert staff. Joint Commission has estimated up to a 85% reduction in injury from falls when bed alarms are utilized. Fortunately, reduced costs and improved alarm design have significantly helped to improve patient outcomes. Several evidence based studies that prove the efficacy of these devices are finally about to be published.

In recent years it has been very difficult to find evidence based programs for fall prevention and fall protection. I have a personal reason for my involvement in this matter since my mother passed away as a direct result of a hip fracture. This event was totally preventable utilizing the techniques implemented by some forward thinking facilities like Johns Hopkins.

Facilities have been struggling with the appropriate modalities to reduce the incidence of falls and reduce restraint use at the same time. In order to find the ultimate solution requires a mix of assessment tools and up to date devices to achieve the highest reduction in fall risk. Additionally bed safety and reductions in side rail entrapment have been serious concerns especially for older beds. I also believe, as does CMS, that one of the best answers is too provide a train the trainer approach to hospital and long term care on fall prevention, fall protection, bed safety and restraint reduction. Fall Prevention Programs work particularly well in this format since fall prevention in nursing often requires significant falls training and retraining.

I began our journey to reinvent an all inclusive, evidence based program for fall prevention including online video training with over 400 pages of resources including  DVD’s and manual. The best approach was to elicit the best speakers on these topics including the ADON at Johns Hopkins and a geriatric doctor at one of the top 100 hospitals, Dr. Deidre Carolan from Inova Health System. We teamed up and developed a train the trainer that is loaded with all the needed content. Finally,  programs that addressed on line and in house training for; Hospital Fall Prevention, Long Term Care Fall Prevention, Restraint Reduction, Fall Prevention Protocols, Falls and Restraint Assessment, Acute Care Fall Prevention and Bed Safety.  

The programs are recorded with a live audience to increase the learning and retention experience. Valuable technologies including Fall Alarms, Posey Beds, Hip Protectors, Fall Mats, Self-Releasing Devices and Restraint Alternatives are demonstrated and discussed. Reducing the impact of the new Medicare changes of October 2008 are reviewed in detail. These accredited on line training programs include all the patient/resident safety regulatory recommendations and device suggestions. Numerous tools including the new Johns Hopkins restraint, falls policies and protocols as required by the new CMS and 2009 Joint Commission recommendations. I have reviewed numerous programs and I am confident this is the most state of the art program available. Attendees report this is the best program they have ever attended for staff and nursing training.

Many regulatory guidelines are often overlooked due to lack of information from the regulating agencies.  I have had the opportunity to work with and train numerous surveyors. There has often been some inconsistency between surveyors on the guidelines. The training I have done with the surveyors has reduced some of these inconsistencies. We have included much of the lessons learned in the On Line and DVD programs in a train the trainer, video and PowerPoint format.  This will certainly help to minimize negative surveys in Long Term and Acute Care settings.

Testimonials and clips of the program can be viewed on www.MedicalNurseTraining.com/Testimonials.html/

Article is Copyrighted 2009 - Patrick Devaney

Patrick Devaney, BA Psychology

President and Founder, Medical Nurse Training, Inc.

Patrick has been a consultant / trainer to numerous Health Care facilities, Corporations and LTCDON Associations.  Most recently as Executive Director of a state Director Of Nurses Association Long Term Care.  He has trained thousands of LTC and Critical Care facilities as a speaker on fall prevention, bed safety and restraint alternatives in one and three hour accredited speaking engagements.  His programs have been nationally accredited by the ANA for over 12 years with excellent results.

It’s that time of year again that everyone celebrates the holidays.  So as I tripped on some holiday lights this weekend, I thought it would be a great reminder to share some tips to prevent nursing home falls this holiday season.

These are just 5 Tips to Prevent Nursing Home Falls During the Holidays

Tip # 1:  Keep the decorations off the floor.  This may seem like common sense, but as I walk into nursing homes I see the holiday decorations that are set up on the floor, especially in family meeting areas.  This can lead to a nursing home preventable fall by either a resident or a family member or visitor.  If you are celebrating Christmas by having a Christmas Tree, then make sure that there is not a skirt or packages or lights on the ground that a resident can trip and fall on.

Tip # 2:  What goes up, will come down.   Things that are hung up on the ceiling or on windows with tape, will eventually fall to the ground.  Thus creating another potential nursing home preventable fall.  It’s easy to prevent falls of this type by having staff members, whether caregivers, janitorial staff or dietary employees, pay attention and make it a priority to watch for anything that has fallen to the ground and pick it up.

Tip # 3:  When there is a party, make sure that the floors stay clean.  This is where you want to eat, sing and be merry in celebration of the holidays, but you also want to make sure that no party punch or liquids fall the floor with residents or visitors moving around so much.   So prevent this nursing home fall by being more watchful during parties or celebrations and make sure everyone is watching the floor and ready to clean any area immediately.

Tip # 4:  Keep the handrails clear.  You may want to decorate the handle rails and walking areas, but resist the urge to put anything on this area.  You sure wouldn’t want a nursing home fall just because you wanted to make the walls look more festive.

Tip # 5:  Bows and Wrapping Paper are pretty, but they can also be a nursing home fall risk.   Do you remember how when you were a kid the wrapping paper and bows always tend to end up on the floor.  Well, it doesn’t matter what your age is, wrapping paper and bows still end up on the floor, maybe just not as much as it did in the past.  So keep a trash can near by and make sure that residents don’t take the pretty bows and put them on their walkers or wheelchairs, as they will usually end up on the floor, and causing another nursing home preventable fall.

Please feel free to add your suggestions to this list, as there are many other ways to fall during the holidays, but I wanted to get these out on the web as fast as I could.

To learn more about avoiding nursing home preventable falls, please visit www.medicalnursetraining.com/LongTermCare.html

To avoid kidney stones this holiday season, be sure to keep your residents fully hydrated.  To learn more, please visit www.avoidkidneystones.com 

I came across this article on 7 Ways Seniors Can Avoid Falls by Lance P. Van Arsdell

I thought that this would be appropriate for Nursing Homes as well as Hospitals to pay attention to and may be use as they prepare their at home Fall Prevention Family Education Booklets.