Don’t make a quick call without assessing the entire situation. Once a patient starts to fall, you cannot stop the momentum, and trying to intervene can cause injury to your back. In a best case scenario, you can gently guide them to the floor while protecting their head from hitting hard objects. The best intervention is to be proactive, assess fall risk with the Morse Fall Scale, and implement interventions to prevent falls. 23 Don’t rush to help the patient up prior to assessing the situation – sometimes it takes a few minutes to determine the extent of injury.4 Sometimes staff make patient lifting and repositioning decisions based on tradition, personal experience, and “the way the unit does it” instead of scientific evidence.5

Avoid Reaction – Be Proactive to prevent this scenario whenever possible!

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4, 5, 23 Footnotes found in the Scoring & Algorithms for Safe Patient Handling & Mobility