Practice Experience: Applying Measurement Tools to a Practice Problem

Practice Experience: Applying Measurement Tools to a Practice Problem

Practice Experience: Applying Measurement Tools to a Practice Problem
Conduct a collaboration interview with two or three key leaders in your practice setting to determine the measures for your practice problem and
associated challenges impacting measurement for your practice problem (include confidentiality, anonymity, access issues, etc.). MY
PRACTICE PROBLEM IS THAT has been identified is the patient falls) Perform an existing evidence review on your practice problem and
search for evidence that demonstrates how your practice problem is measured across the country.
Post a description of the measures identified from the interviews, the challenges to obtaining the data that were discussed, and a summary of
how this quality indicator is measured in the literature. Discuss any gaps in the data that were identified and additional sources that might be
needed to obtain this data. Be sure to support your practice problem with the literature that indicates the relevance of this problem for nursing
practice. Provide evidence from practice and data that is available.
Practice Problem: Falls
The practice problem that has been identified is the patient falls. Falls are one of the adverse events that are often associated with negative
care outcomes. Falls in hospital settings are considered never events due to the health risks and complications resulting from such events (Lee
et al., 2018). This practice problem was selected because falls can be prevented, and they can cause different complications, including fracture
of bones, disability, and other long-term health complications.
According to the AHRQ (2020), at least one in four elderly persons aged above 65 years falls every minute. This makes this problem the major
cause of injuries and deaths associated with injury in this population. Therefore, this problem was selected due to its prevalence and adverse
health outcomes associated with it.
According to the charge nurse in my facility whom I spoke to, the occurrence of falls in the facility is high, especially among elderly patients..
Data on the cases of falls in the facility shows that 25 instances of patient falls have been reported for the past year. This further triggered the
need to address this practice problem.
According to Morris & O’Riordan (2017), hospital falls are major practice problems that result in poor care outcomes and increased cost of
healthcare services. Morris et al. (2018) state that an all-inclusive and interdisciplinary approach can be effective in minimizing such events and
improve patient satisfaction, safety, and quality of care. In most cases, hospitals with high fall rates experience the increased cost of operations
as expenses incurred in managing complications resulting from falls are often not compensated.
References
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). (2020). Hospital Falls. Patient Safety Prime