Safety Huddles

Does your hospital huddle? Staff in the medical-surgical unit at Fairbanks (AK) Memorial Hospital is implementing huddles and other strategies to reduce falls among inpatients. Unit staff determined that a huddle called immediately after a patient falls is crucial for learning and helping to prevent future falls. Senior leadership support is important, too, and a unit director is on call 24/7 to lead the huddle. Other changes being implemented, tested or spread include evaluating bed equipment throughout the unit, discussing falls at staff meetings and at a falls skills fair, conducting safety rounds for falls, identifying high-risk patients during shift reports, and increasing the number of chair alarms. Also important: “We post the date of our last fall—that keeps it front and center for everyone,” says Teri Kiss, R.N., unit director and director of patient quality resources. The unit's total falls have decreased from a rate of 12 per 1,000 patient days in early 2011 to 4.1 per 1,000 patient days at the end of 2012. Staff continues testing strategies, including identifying different ways to communicate that a patient is at risk for falling and why. A 152-bed facility part of Banner Health, Fairbanks Memorial Hospital participates in the AHA/HRET Hospital Engagement Network .

Does your hospital huddle? Staff in the medical-surgical unit at Fairbanks (AK) Memorial Hospital is implementing huddles and other strategies to reduce falls among inpatients. Unit staff determined that a huddle called immediately after a patient falls is crucial for learning and helping to prevent future falls. Senior leadership support is important, too, and a unit director is on call 24/7 to lead the huddle. Other changes being implemented, tested or spread include evaluating bed equipment throughout the unit, discussing falls at staff meetings and at a falls skills fair, conducting safety rounds for falls, identifying high-risk patients during shift reports, and increasing the number of chair alarms. Also important: “We post the date of our last fall—that keeps it front and center for everyone,” says Teri Kiss, R.N., unit director and director of patient quality resources. The unit's total falls have decreased from a rate of 12 per 1,000 patient days in early 2011 to 4.1 per 1,000 patient days at the end of 2012. Staff continues testing strategies, including identifying different ways to communicate that a patient is at risk for falling and why. A 152-bed facility part of Banner Health, Fairbanks Memorial Hospital participates in the AHA/HRET Hospital Engagement Network .
For more information, contact Kiss at teri.kiss@bannerhealth.com