Impact and Opportunities of the Tyndall-Bailey Falls Risk Assessment Intensive Care Unit-Specific Tool

Falls occur infrequently in critical care where the risk must be balanced against the advantages of physical therapy. Many falls risk assessment tools are not designed for use in critical care and often categorize all patients as "high risk" and thus their usefulness is limited. The Tyndall-Bailey Falls Risk Assessment Tool was specifically designed to be used in the intensive care unit. This tool demonstrated good reliability in an early evaluation and was associated with a reduction in the fall rate. There is ongoing work, some international, to test the psychometrics and opportunities to extend its use to other jurisdictions.