Falls Resources

Falls can have a significant impact not only on the person who experiences them, but also their key, informal carers too. When waiting for long periods of time for help on hard, often cold floors, the side-effects can be dangerous and compromise health, wellbeing and dignity. Given that most major trauma patients are aged 60 years and over and experience a low mechanism of injury, careful management is required. With the right training and support, care teams can become competent and confident to manage falls. This article explores how proactive falls management strategies can significantly improve quality of life, alleviating societal and economic burden of falls-related complications.

Nobody within the health and care system needs to be told how dangerous a fall can be.
Hip fractures caused by falls are the number one source of accidentrelated deaths in older people (Department of Health [DH], 2009).

Thirty percent of older people who have a hip fracture from a fall die within a year — 20% within just four months (DH, 2009). These fractures result in a rapid loss of independence and routine that can be devastating for an individual. 

Nocturia is a common lower urinary tract symptom that mainly affects older people. Nocturia causes excess urination at night and, because of associated night-time rising, can also result in falls and fractures. Nocturia has a range of presentations, therefore it is vital that nurses understand how to assess the condition accurately to provide appropriate treatment. This article examines the effective assessment of nocturia, as well as detailing the various lifestyle treatment options that can be used, such as a targeted reduction of fluid intake, weight loss and altered medication profiles. Medication and surgical options should only be used following a trial of lifestyle interventions.

A report by the National Patient Safety Agency based on an analysis of over 200,000 falls, found that the majority of falls resulted in no harm; however other consequences such as a loss of confidence, increased likelihood of discharge to a residential or nursing home or an increased length of stay in the hospital cannot be easily captured or quantified. This article reports on a study undertaken to identify the risk factors and trends present in a cohort of patients that have suffered a fall in a community hospital.

Chetan Shah MPharm, Dip Clin Pharm, Cert Psych Ther., Principal Pharmacist – Community Services, Ealing Hospital NHS Trust,
Gillian Williams, MSc,BSc, RGN, Modern Matron, Ealing Hospital NHS Trust,
Jaikishan Joshi and Roobi Aziz, Research Students, School of Pharmacy, University of Hertfordshire.

Article accepted for publication: January 2012