The Impact of Nurse Staffing on the Prevention of Patient Falls and Medication Errors in Western Australia Hospitals

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACTII

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION1

Introduction to the Study1

Background of the Study2

Significance of the Study5

REFERENCES7

ABSTRACT

Central to the nursing practice is to protect patients and promote healing by providing the patient with the best possible care with a return to an optimal level of functioning. In order to meet this outcome, healthcare organizations must have higher levels of nurses who are knowledgeable and well trained. Despite numerous fall prevention programs and a myriad of studies, patient falls continue to plague health care organizations in Western Australia. Every healthcare organization is faced with the constant potential for patient falls and strives to provide a safe environment that delivers quality care. The ascertainment of an appropriate skill mix depends upon the patient care setting and the acuity of the patient. Past studies have lacked control units, have been short run, and have made overall generalized statements that nurse-staffing issues have an effect on patient outcomes. Keeping in view the importance of nurse-to-patient-staffing issue, this paper presents the introductory chapter on this topic. The first chapter includes introduction to the study, background, and significance of the study.

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

Introduction to the Study

The most common inpatient accident and the largest single category of hospital incidents are falls, according to reports published since the 1940s (French, 2006), and account for 25% to 84% of inpatient adverse events (Finkelstein, 2005). Despite numerous fall prevention programs and a myriad of studies, patient falls continue to plague health care organizations in Western Australia. Every healthcare organization is faced with the constant potential for patient falls and strives to provide a safe environment that delivers quality care (Finis, 2005).

In 2005, the Australian Medical Association reported the prevalence of life threatening conditions that were felt should not occur in hospitals after a patient is admitted (Inouye, 2009). Falls are listed as one of the eight conditions because of the high number of falls and the high cost associated with fall related injury (Evans, 2006). Although the studies by Dunton (2004) and Lake (2006) reported a association between patient falls and nurse staffing, the Australian Medical Association (AMA) reported that falls were not the result of medical errors but due to conditions such as disease, medication use, and disabilities (Inouye, 2009). Chapter 1 will provide background information about patient falls and the nurses' perception of the effect of staffing ratios on the prevalence rate of falls (Krauss, 2007).

Currently, fragmented research and no national studies across healthcare organizations have been conducted specifically on the relationship between nurse staffing ratios and patient falls. This lack of consistency in the research method employed by past studies led to the current study employing a mixed method design to examine and explore nurse staffing ratio and patient falls. A mixed method design with qualitative and quantitative components was selected to produce quality results and to provide a more comprehensive understanding of inpatient falls (Ketefian, ...