C361: Task 2.Evidence-Based Practice and Applied Nursing Research

A1 Healthcare Problem The healthcare problem that I chose was falls in the older adult community. This problem is largely impacting the ability of older adults to live on their own and maintain their quality of life. Most people do not realize what fall risks are around them and their individual fall risk level. Every year millions of older adults fall sustaining serious injuries and many of these injuries become fatal. Falls are the number one cause of injury and death in the people above sixty-five years old. These falls can happen anywhere in the community or even in the healthcare setting. A2 Significance of Problem Public statistics show that in 2014 alone there were 29 million falls. That number is an extensive part of the older population. Many of these fall injuries cost people their ability to live on their own or even take care of themselves due to the extent of their injuries. Too many people die every year from a possibly preventable fall and the number of falls and deaths due to falls continues to increase every year. In 2014 it was estimated that $31 billion in Medicare costs were due to falls and the injuries that were sustained. Our older population is the fastest growing population in the United States with people having longer life expectancies. That means that the number of falls can increase significantly. A3 Current Practice The current practice of fall prevention is mainly implemented in the healthcare system meaning that unless you are hospitalized for a fall or considered a high fall risk you don’t receive any information about fall risk and interventions to prevent falls. The healthcare system does educate the patients on fall risk and prevention, but that information only reaches a small amount of the population and a lot of education materials used are out of date or don’t apply to certain people. Many patients do not feel that they are at risk for falls so they do not take the time to take the education seriously. Many hospitals and healthcare settings offer written materials to educate patients about falls and this paperwork can easily get lost in the more important paperwork that they may be given. Many adults do not have the ability to read making the written education they receive pointless.