SAFETY SNACKS: IMPROVING QUALITY IN LONG-TERM CARE

Abstract

Falls among residents in the long-term care setting adversely affect resident health with potential for serious injury and quality of care provided. Nurses at the long-term care facility recognize the need to reduce falls. The nurses propose the intervention and name the initiative Safety Snacks. The research questions are: in a long-term care facility, does the practice of additional rounding while providing snacks twice daily, decrease the incidence of falls and falls with serious injury as compared to not providing Safety Snacks over a three-month period? Will unintended weight loss change by additional rounding during which nourishment and fluids are given to residents twice daily over a three-month period? The study examines the number of falls, falls with serious injury, and unintended weight loss before and after the Safety Snacks intervention. Poissons Means Test and odds ratio are used for fall data analysis. A two-proportion z-test is used for weight loss data. The results demonstrate a reduction in falls and falls with serious injury. The odds ratio demonstrates a medium effect in falls with serious injury. The two-proportion test on unintended weight loss yields a significant difference of 0.09 with a 95% confidence interval of (0.015, 0.17). One implication is the increase in rounding while providing nutrition and hydration may reduce falls and falls with serious injury. The second implication is the more significant effect on unintended weight loss with providing Safety Snacks. The third implication is the empowerment of nurses to recommend and execute a change in practice to improve quality.