Process Improvement to Increase Use of a Falls Prevention Patient Education Video on an Inpatient Cardiac Unit

Abstract

Falls in the inpatient setting are a safety concern and are associated negative patient outcomes and financial consequences for healthcare systems. The project purpose was to increase use of a patient falls prevention education video, through process improvement and staff education on an inpatient cardiac unit. A new process, that included nursing education and training on the video system, was developed to integrate the video view process into current staff work flows. Desired project outcomes were that nursing assistant staff (1) participated in the falls prevention education and video system training, (2) had patients view the falls education video once per admission, and (3) reduced falls on the intermediate cardiac unit. Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycles were conducted every 2 weeks during implementation to identify and address barriers. 86.3% (n=26) of nursing assistants participated in the in-services. 100% (n=152) of staff received education via electronic presentation. The falls education video was played an average 4.5 times per week. Number of falls on the unit decreased 45% from the pre-implementation phase compared to the implementation phase. While video views were not significantly increased during the implementation period, improvement was seen. Future PDSA cycles could include further other unit types and sizes and variation in work-flow processes to assist in determining best practices and developing clinical practice guidelines on patient education through the use of video on fall prevention in the inpatient setting.