132 Impact of Falls Intervention Team (FIT) in Sungai Buloh Hospital

Abstract

Abstract Introduction There is an exponential rise in the number of falls in medical wards, Sungai Buloh Hospital over the years. 57.7% (71/123) of the total falls in 2018 occurred in the Medical Department which raised concerns. As part of the falls reduction strategy, a Falls Prevention And Awareness program have been instituted in the department since September 2017 as well as formation of Falls Intervention Team (FIT) in March 2018. This includes: 1. Education: regular Continuous Medical Education (CME) , and Continuous Nursing Education (CNE): Checklist, Morse Falls Scale, and Falls Prevention Flipchart. 2. Identification: wristband , bed-tagging, and board-tagging of high risk patients. 3. Prevention: Targeted intervention implemented based on risk factors. Objectives The primary objective of this study was to assess the knowledge on falls education, identification and prevention upon introduction of FIT. Methods Audits were done upon initiation of FIT and the following 12 months later in all 11 Medical wards. They were based on the above 3 components using a standard audit form HSB-MED –022. Paired T test was used in analysis in SPSS version 23. Results There is an increment of awareness in education by 32% (p < 0.00). Identification of those at high risk of falls has also increased by 11% (p < 0.023, Wilcoxon Signed ranks test). Audit on prevention also revealed an increment of awareness by 14% over 12 months period (p < 0.038). The highest numbers of falls were seen in the wards with the lowest implementation of risk education and identification. Conclusion Despite the rising trend of the number of falls, FIT has proven to raise awareness, improved falls education, identification and prevention among healthcare personnel in medical wards in our setting.