126 days and counting – OBS is a “no fall” zone!
A whiteboard posted on the unit helps motivate the staff and is a record of their success.
As of today, the Observation Unit has gone 126 days without a patient fall. How did we do it? Here are some of our strategies:
Whiteboard: Evidence Based Practice has shown that using a display board reflecting the number of days since the last fall is effective in fall prevention on nursing units. In February, just after our last fall, we hung a whiteboard
Drive: Many of our staff are quite competitive. As the number on our whiteboard gets higher and higher, it helps to keep us motivated!
Teamwork: When a bed alarm sounds on the OBS unit, you will see many nurses and patient care technicians scurrying into the room.
Bed Alarms: We use bed alarms on many of our patients who are at risk for falls. Signs posted in the rooms ask, “Please reset the bed alarm.”
Sacrificed scrubs: While helping an unsteady patient up and to the commode one night, there was a very tricky moment where I had to perform some David Copperfield magic to prevent a fall. Along with thinking of the patient’s safety, I was thinking of that white board. The patient didn’t quite make it to the bathroom in time and I had to throw those scrub bottoms out—however, my patient was safe.
Slips, trips, and flips? Not on OBS. Way to go, OBS team!
-Jen Herzig, BSN, RN
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