Policy Initiative: Call Bells and Hourly Rounding to Reduce Falls.

In this paper, I am exploring a policy initiative that I undertook in my place of work to ensure the safety of the patients who are at risk for falls. I work at the Unique Plight Nursing Agency. For a long time, we have had the nagging problem of patient falls. The problem was very serious since the falls were accompanied with consequences like muscle tears and joint dislocations. In some instances, we lost patients through shocks during a fall. Even after exploring various initiatives to solve the issue, we realized little success.

The policy required that we introduce call bells for every at risk-for-fall patient. In addition, the policy required that the nurse makes hourly rounds to determine any need for assistance to the at-risk patients. According to Digby, Bloomer and Howard (2011), advise that, for a call bell program to be effective, there must be strong leadership skills of the nurses. Our initiative factored this in that the nurse on duty would be held responsible for any fall that occurred as a result of ignoring the call bell. Tzeng (2010) asserts that instituting a high-level discipline in responding to call bells creates a culture in which nurses perceive that responding to a call bell is a major component of patient safety. Deitrick, Baker, Paxton, Flores and Swavery (2012) observe that, although hourly rounding is challenging, it has improved patient safety to a great extent, as pertains patient falls.

The geriatrics department advocated fro the policy. The policy was supported by the administration and it was instituted. The policy initiative was supported by the State branch of the Geriatric Associates of America, in advocating for patient safety. The State’s Health Care Commission also supported the idea. However, the hospital board was against it because of financial constraints and cost implications. After implementing the proposal, the benefits we realized as an agency have triggered many there agencies to implement the policy. It has been life-changing and falls have been reduced greatly