The Vanderbilt Fall Prevention Program for Long-Term Care: Eight Years of Field Experience with Nursing Home Staff

A fall prevention program based on King’s goal attainment theory was developed to verify its effect on those in long-term care hospitals. The experiment was conducted at K Long-Term Care Hospital in S city for eight weeks. The study employed 57 elderly patients and 58 nurses. The program comprised an individual training conducted in a ward and hospital room for 20–30 min and a group training held in a conference room for 60 min. Significance levels were analyzed at p < 0.05 via frequency analysis, descriptive statistics, independent sample t-test, χ2-test, Mann–Whitney’s U test, Wilcoxon code rank test, and Cronbach’s α, and the clinical trial number was KCT0005908. In the patient intervention group, fall prevention behavior and knowledge increased, and the fear of falling decreased. Fall prevention behavior and knowledge increased in the nurse intervention group. Patient and nurse interaction satisfaction also increased. In contrast, the number of falls and nurses’ burden did not decrease. The fall prevention program was verified via the interaction of personal, interpersonal, and social systems. Thus, the patient’s fear of falling was reduced. Moreover, the program was effective for the fall knowledge, interaction satisfaction, and fall prevention behavior of both the patient and nurse.

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A Fall Prevention Program For Elderly Individuals: Exercise in Long-Term Care Settings

Journal of Gerontological Nursing ◽

10.3928/0098-9134-20000301-09 ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 26 (3) ◽

pp. 43-51 ◽

Cited By ~ 59

Author(s):

Deborah Perry Schoenfelder

Keyword(s):

Fall Prevention ◽

Prevention Program ◽

Long Term Care ◽

Term Care ◽

Elderly Individuals ◽

Fall Prevention Program

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Preventing Falls in Long-Term Care Using Patient-Centered Fall Interventions

10.46409/sr.wzqm9305 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

◽

Angela Blakley

Keyword(s):

Fall Prevention ◽

Prevention Program ◽

Long Term Care ◽

Patient Centered ◽

Term Care ◽

Injury Rates ◽

Fall Prevention Program ◽

Practice Problem ◽

Fall Rates

Practice Problem: The practice problem identified within the Community Living Center included continuous falls, despite using current fall prevention strategies and provider-driven interventions. Baseline data reflected a fall rate of 4.2 in the long-term care areas despite improving the fall prevention program. PICOT: The PICOT question that guided this project was: In older adult residents (P), what is the effect of a standing operating procedure (SOP) using patient-centered interventions (I) compared to physician-driven fall interventions (C) on decreasing falls and falls with injuries (O) within one month (T)? Evidence: In twelve high-quality articles that fit the eligibility criteria and contained EBP literature, the overwhelming evidence revealed that an SOP encompassing patient-centered fall interventions could decrease LTC falls and falls within injury rates. Outcome: Observations reflected the nursing staff utilized the SOP and patient-centered fall interventions in practice; however, fall rates on both LTC #1 and LTC #2 increased from baseline, but the falls with injury rates remained zero. Patient satisfaction measured a weighted mean score of 4.7 of 5 points, representing satisfaction with the patient-centered interventions and nurses as a whole. Conclusion: The EBP project did not result in an overall reduction in the fall rates; however, falls with injury rates remained at zero. Furthermore, the patient's overall satisfaction with the nurses and patient-centered fall prevention program was favorable. It is essential to note that due to COVID-19 related events, the project halted after 30 days, and the results might have been different if implemented 90 days as initially projected.

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Failure to Thrive: Nursing Home Staff Experiences in Caring for Residents during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Innovation in Aging ◽

10.1093/geroni/igab046.3188 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽

pp. 883-883

Author(s):

Yu-Ping Chang ◽

Audrieanna Raciti ◽

Cristina de Rosa ◽

Margaret Doerzbacher ◽

Yanjun Zhou ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Nursing Home ◽

Long Term Care ◽

New York State ◽

Nursing Home Residents ◽

Failure To Thrive ◽

Care Staff ◽

Term Care ◽

Nursing Home Staff ◽

Care Facilities

Abstract Nursing home residents and staff have accounted for roughly 40% of Coronavirus-related deaths in the U.S. The burden of caring for vulnerable residents coupled with isolation policies has taken a significant emotional toll among direct health care staff in long term care facilities. This study explores nursing home staff’s experiences in caring for residents during the COVID-19 pandemic. A qualitative descriptive approach with a semi-structured guide was used to conduct individual interviews. We recruited nursing home staff employed during the COVID-19 pandemic in long term care facilities located in New York State. Interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim, and then analyzed using Braun and Clarke’s Reflexive Thematic analysis. Twelve nursing home staff were interviewed. Participants consistently refer to failure-to-thrive as an extremely concerning problem because many residents demonstrate decreased appetite and poor nutrition, inactivity, and depressive symptoms due to social isolation. They also often feel frustrated and overwhelmed due to uncertainty and shortages of staff. Five main themes were identified, including doing their best to manage residents’ failure-to-thrive, working as a team, keeping family members informed and connected, struggling to balance competing personal and professional demands, and needing support to reduce stress and build strength. Our study findings indicate that nursing home staff experienced a high level of stress and identified failure-to-thrive caused by isolation and loneliness as a common phenomenon among nursing home residents during the COVID-19 pandemic. Interventions are urgently needed to reduce isolation and loneness in nursing home residents and to provide support for staff.

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“They Stay With You”: Nursing Home Staff's Emotional Experiences of Being in a Close Relationship With a Resident in Long-Term Care who Died

Journal of Holistic Nursing ◽

10.1177/08980101211017766 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 089801012110177

Author(s):

Anne Kristine Ådland ◽

Birgitta H. Gripsrud ◽

Marta H. Lavik ◽

Ellen Ramvi

Keyword(s):

Nursing Home ◽

Long Term Care ◽

Mutual Recognition ◽

Emotional Experience ◽

Emotional Impact ◽

Emotional Experiences ◽

Term Care ◽

Nursing Home Staff ◽

Close Relationship

Aim: To explore and develop understanding of nursing home staff's emotional experiences of being in a close relationship with a resident in long-term care who later died. Design: Ethnographic fieldwork. Methods: As part of fieldwork, narrative interviews were conducted with nursing home staff ( n = 6) in two nursing homes in Norway and analyzed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Findings: Through data analysis, we identified three superordinate themes: (1) wanting to be something good for the resident and their families, (2) striving to make sense of the resident's death, and (3) struggling to balance being personal and professional. Implications for holistic nursing and conclusion: Nursing home staff experience tensions between ideals of distanced professionalism and the emotional experience of proximity, evidenced by personal commitment and mutual recognition in relationships with “special residents” in long-term care. To support holistic practice, awareness is needed of the emotional impact of relationships on health professionals. Suppressing feelings puts staff at risk of moral distress, compassion fatigue, and burnout, as well as higher turnover and absenteeism. Managers should facilitate discussions on professionals’ ideals of relationship-based practice, including processing of, and reflection on, emotional experiences in long-term care. Rituals to mark a resident's death can provide further emotional containment.

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