Falls are recognized as a frequently occurring adverse event among older hospitalized patients. In- hospital falls are associated with increased length of hospitalization, morbidity and increased patient dependency on medical staff. An individualized approach to reduce the risk of falling is required as part of advancing patient health.

Objectives:

1) Evaluating the effectiveness of nursing staff education program for preventing falls in the acute hospital setting.

2) Reduction of the falls rate during hospitalization.

Design: Observational - Interventional Study.

Methods:

Phase I: Retrospective analysis of case/falls reports from hospital archive. Recognizing the risk factors for falls in acute hospital setting during the years

2003- 2006.

Phase II: Implementing Morse Falls Scale which is based on identified risk factors as an indicator for individual fall risk estimation. Education program for nursing staff including concealing contents for patient, safety issues and putting MFS in everyday practice. This phase has started on 2005 and is ongoing.

Results:

Phase I: The falls rate has decreased from 5.31% in 2003 to 2.5% in 2006. 67% of the patients were men which average age was 70-80 years old. 45% of the cases occurred during the morning shift and 40% were identified by the nursing staff.

Phase II: In 2005 MFS has became in integral part of the patient assessment process. The nursing staff demonstrated motivation following this new department policy including falls assessment and patient education for falls prevention.

Conclusion:

Fall prevention is a well organized and planned initiative managed by nursing staff. Patient and nursing education is an important part of a multiple intervention fall prevention approach for the acute hospital setting.