MDS Alert

Published on Sat Jul 03, 2010 PDF

Sometimes the solution costs just pennies a day.

Suppose a person fell and broke his hip at home and is in the SNF for rehab and nursing care with a plan to return home. As part of assessment and care planning, you'd ask why he fell at home, advises Robin Bleier, RN, LHRM-FACDONA, principal of Health Partners Inc., in Palm Harbor, Fla.

"The answer may be that 'I always use a nightlight and I fell because I can't see in the dark. The bulb burned out in my nightlight and I got up and fell,'" she says.

Solution: One care plan intervention would be to provide a nightlight for the resident, says Bleier. "If he's going to be a long-term resident, then you might [have a directive in the care plan] to change the light bulb at certain intervals and have someone check during evening and night rounds that the nightlight is on," she says.

"Those may end up being your only two interventions for that resident related to fall prevention," adds Bleier. "You wouldn't have all of those generic interventions about the call bell, etc., that we always put on everyone's care plan."