Using human factors and ergonomics principles to prevent inpatient falls

Area of Science:

• Healthcare quality improvement
• Patient safety
• Human Factors and Ergonomics (HF&E)
• Systems engineering in healthcare

Background:

• Inpatient falls are a significant global concern, with risks amplified by the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Existing fall prevention strategies require enhancement through systematic approaches.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce and evaluate a fall prevention program applying Human Factors and Ergonomics (HF&E) principles.
• To reduce inpatient falls in an acute public hospital setting using a systems engineering perspective.

Main Methods:

• Implementation of a fall prevention program utilizing HF&E principles within a 750-bed acute public hospital.
• Adoption of the Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control (DMAIC) methodology for program planning and execution.
• Comparative analysis of fall rates during pre-COVID-19, COVID-19, and program implementation periods.

Main Results:

• Fall rates significantly increased during the COVID-19 period (0.773 per 1000 patient bed days) compared to pre-COVID-19 (0.476).
• The HF&E-based fall prevention program led to a significant decrease in fall rates (0.547 per 1000 patient bed days) post-implementation.
• Thirteen specific fall risk areas were identified and addressed through targeted improvement actions.

Conclusions:

• The COVID-19 pandemic negatively impacted hospital fall rates, underscoring the need for robust prevention strategies.
• The applied HF&E principles and DMAIC methodology proved effective in reducing inpatient falls.
• The program's success suggests its generalizability to other healthcare settings with trained HF&E personnel.