Measuring fall program outcomes

Nurses help to ensure patient safety, which includes preventing falls and fall related injuries. The aging Veteran population, like the general population, is at risk for falls and fall related injuries whether at home, in hospitals or in long term care facilities. Nurses are leading practice innovations to systematically assess patients' risk for falls and implement population based prevention interventions. To determine the effectiveness of programs, data can be analyzed using a variety of statistical measures to determine program impacts. Thus, data analysis of fall rates by type of fall and severity of fall related injury can help facilities examine the effectiveness of their interventions and program outcomes. Examples of actual fall prevention programs and their approaches to measurement are showcased in this article.