Fall Program Assessment, Evaluation, and Spread

Presented by Pat Quigley

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Analysis of fall prevention programs requires more than examination of aggregated fall rates. Program evaluation is a systematic way to evaluate structures and processes that lead to improvement in outcomes. This session informs rehabilitation nurses about structure and process of fall and fall injury program attributes at the organization, unit and patient levels. This level of program assessment leads to opportunities to enhance practice, clinical skills, and program infrastructure and capacity. As a result, rehabilitation nurses are better positioned as clinical leaders to implement and spread interventions to improve patient and program outcomes.

Meet your instructor

Pat Quigley

Dr. Patricia Quigley, PhD, MPH, APRN, CRRN, FAAN, FAANP, Nurse Consultant, is a retired Associate Director of the VISN 8 Patient Safety Research Center of Inquiry and is both a Clinical Nurse Specialist and a Nurse Practitioner in Rehabilitation. Her contributions to patient safety, nursing, and rehabilitation are evident…

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Chapters & learning objectives

Program Evaluation: Preparation Phase

1. Program Evaluation: Preparation Phase

All rehabilitation nurses want to evaluate the outcomes of their fall prevention practices. These outcomes are dependent on each patient’s risk factors, each unit’s context, and overall organizational characteristics. Rehabilitation nurses experience these complexities 24 hours a day, and therefore are vital to the preparation phase to plan for and initiate an evaluation. During this session, rehabilitation nurses will learn basic components of program evaluation and apply these components to fall and fall injury prevention programs, creating a more precise road map at the patient, unit, and organizational level.

Formulate Measurable Fall-Related and Fall Injury-Related Outcomes

2. Formulate Measurable Fall-Related and Fall Injury-Related Outcomes

Understanding changes in outcomes requires that structures and processes be clearly defined, linked, and trended to the correct outcome. Structures and processes must be measured twice as much as outcomes in order to discover, in real time, barriers and facilitators to program improvement. Simply monitoring a fall rate or counting number of days between falls is insufficient to determine fall program effectiveness. In this session, rehabilitation nurses will define and contrast three types of falls and align specific actions to reduce each type of fall, deconstruct structures and processes to reduce serious injuries, and assess baseline program status in order to initiate prioritized actions.

Sample Tools for Program Evaluation at Patient, Unit, and Organizational Levels

3. Sample Tools for Program Evaluation at Patient, Unit, and Organizational Levels

High-reliability organizations (HROs) commit to a culture of safety and transparency through continuous systems of improvement. These systems rely on valid, reliable, and continuous measurement to track implementation and then evaluation. During this chapter, rehabilitation nurses will utilize post-fall huddle data analysis and organizational self-assessment as two tools to evaluate fall and fall injury programs.

Think Out of the Box: Other Opportunities for Evaluation of Your Program

4. Think Out of the Box: Other Opportunities for Evaluation of Your Program

High-reliability organizations (HROs) and organizations of excellence strive to showcase how their organizations compare and outperform like units and organizations. HROs commit to a culture of safety and transparency through continuous systems of improvement. Program evaluation invites inquiry into the uniqueness of each culture, and this inquiry can excite new methods of program evaluation. In this chapter, rehabilitation nurses will be introduced to innovative methods of program evaluation to be considered within their unit and organization.