Clinical Journal(s) X4 Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Clinical Journal(s) X4 - Research Paper Example A yellow bracelet and socks were worn by the patient to provide warning of the falls precaution requirement for the patient. Issue Encountered I observed the patient walking in the unit, and also moving out of the unit, without being stopped by any of the staff nurses. The issues here are the negligence of a system put in place for patient safety, and the confusion in me whether to intervene or not. Ultimately, I did warn the patient not to ambulate in the unit and also out of the unit. Questions Related to Practice Evidence from a long-term study of a large number of post operative patients in surgical units shows that 1.6% of surgical inpatients have one or more postoperative falls, with significant morbidity risk (Church et al, 2011). A possible cause of this risk for falls in postoperative patients is the use of strong analgesics of the opiate and opiate-like group to provide pain relief. These pain medications carry a high risk of falls in patients, from dizziness that is caused by them (Vestergaard, 2008). Recognition of the fall risk in postoperative patients assists in putting in place systems to reduce the risk of falls for patient safety. Effective falls prevention systems in hospitals may be costly, but taking into consideration the higher economic costs to patients in terms of morbidity, length of stay in hospitals, and costs associated with it, falls prevention systems are useful in hospitals (Spetz, Jacobs & Hatler, 2007). In this hospital a yellow colored bracelet and socks has been introduced in the system for falls prevention, to warn nurses of the fall risk potential of the patient, and that ambulation has to be prohibited. Yet, none of the staff nurses paid heed to the requirements of the falls prevention system, negating the effect of the falls prevention system, and reducing the safety of the patient. Money is being spent by the hospital to enhance patient safety through the falls prevention system. What needs to be done is for the nurses t o be conscious of the requirements of the falls prevention system, and be more vigilant to prevent postoperative patients with fall risk warnings moving around. Professional Growth I believe I am growing as a nursing professional through the experience of this event. I have learnt that there is the risk for falls in postoperative patients from the analgesics that are administered to them for pain relief. Systems for fall prevention are used for patient safety, which have to be adhered to, for effectiveness in the patient safety objective. I have also learnt that postoperative patients are likely to be unaware of the risk of falls from the pain medication that they take, and are likely to move around. It is the responsibility of the nurses to educate patients on these aspects, with the aim of making them desist from attempting to move around. Action and Non-action The postoperative patient on pain medications was moving around, though he was not supposed. The non-action part lay in n one of the staff nurses taking any steps to prevent his moving around, which may have resulted in a fall. I communicated to the patient that he should not be moving around the unit, and got him back to his bed. In addition, I informed my preceptor of my experience. She took steps to convene a meeting of all nurses, where the discussion was on effective implementation of the falls prevention system that was in use in the hospital. Safety Risk Opiate and opiate-like pain medications administered to