wk 2. post 3

We went to a meeting today on falls prevention. Initially the nurse went through statistics that she had gained from an audit of each patient regarding a number of factors that contributes to risk of falling and highlighting any improvements or things that have gotten worse since the last audit (usually a month ago). It was interesting to see the factors that were considered to contribute to falls risk. One of the issues raised, which was a factor that had not improved since the last audit, was if the walking aid prescribed for the patient was next to the bed or in reach of the patient at all times. According to the statistics by keeping the walking aid close to the patient an in reach in their room helped reduce the risk of falls. However the concern was raised that if pts who are confused or demented had their walking aid at hand and were not independently safe it would encourage tthem to get up and walk when theyre not supervised. The physio that was running this meeting said that regardless of the walking aid being within reach the demented patient would get up and walk or go to the toilet if they really wanted to, so it was considered more safe if they at least used the aid.