In a bid to continue improving the quality of care we provide to our patients and their families, colleagues across the Trust have been working with our Quality Improvement Team to focus on key areas, such as falls prevention, as part of the Fundamentals of Care Nursing Programme.
The Falls Team has recently established a Falls Champion Network Trust-wide. The network is made up of 90 colleagues who have volunteered their time to raise the profile of falls prevention at ward-level, by facilitating the promotion and awareness of prevention initiatives.
We spoke to Ivan Obien, a Charge Nurse on the Royal’s Acute Medicine Assessment Unit, who has been volunteering as a falls champion for over a year.
“Looking after frail and vulnerable patients was what inspired me to become a falls champion. I liked the idea of being part of a network that advocates for the safety of patients and helps to implement innovative methods to reduce the chance of a fall whilst in our care,” said Ivan.
“I’ve been working at LUHFT for almost three years, and it was great to be part of the move over to the new Royal. The move brought with it some challenges, in particularly an increase in falls. This increase led the Falls Team to take a detailed look into how falls can be prevented, not only at the Royal, but Trust-wide, and as a result they introduced the falls champion role.
“As a champion, it’s my job to ensure current interventions that the Trust has implemented are carried out. Falls are inevitable but the role of champions is to focus on reducing the number of falls and the impact they can cause to our vulnerable patients.”
As well as identifying patients who are admitted and may be high falls risk, Ivan has helped to educate colleagues on the falls alarm system that was recently introduced by the falls team. The alarms alert staff via a pager if a patient has left their bed without assistance, a feature that Ivan says has been particularly helpful with the switch to single-occupancy rooms at the Royal.
Ivan continued: “The best advice I could give anyone who is thinking of becoming a falls champion is remember that falls can’t be avoided, but with the right interventions can be minimised. Don’t get disheartened when a fall is reported, but instead use this as motivation to think about what changes we can implement to better our quality of care further.”
If you are interested in becoming a falls champion in your area, please discuss this with your line manager for approval. Once approved, contact the Falls Team on fallsteam
