Date of Graduation
12-2018
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Science in Nursing
Degree Level
Undergraduate
Department
Nursing
Advisor/Mentor
Susan Patton
Committee Member/Reader
Carol Agana
Committee Member/Second Reader
Lori Murray
Abstract
The aim of this study was to analyze the risk of falls relative to the use of fall risk inducing drugs (FRIDs) among older adult patients admitted to the hospital setting. Quality improvement of nursing fall risk assessment was of special interest. To analyze this a retroactive review of fall incident reports was conducted in collaboration with the study hospital’s risk manager. Medications were correlated with injuries sustained to identify high risk FRIDs. The selected study population consisted of 166 patients over the age of 65 who fell on the acute care campus of a hospital in the mid-south region of the United States. The results demonstrated no correlation between drug classes and injury sustained from a fall. Anti-hypertensive and cardiovascular medications were found to be involved in the highest number of falls. The study was limited however by a small sample size of nurses who adequately reported fall incidents. Further studies are needed to identify relationships between medications and fall risk. Further studies are also needed to evaluate nurse compliance with incident reporting.
Keywords
Falls, fall risk inducing drugs, fall prevention, geriatrics
Citation
Eldridge, K., & Patton, S. K. (2018). The Relationship Between Fall Rates and Fall Risk Inducing Drugs in Older Adult Patients in the Hospital Setting. The Eleanor Mann School of Nursing Undergraduate Honors Theses Retrieved from https://scholarworks.uark.edu/nursuht/77