As soon as a patient gets up from bed in a hospital room, bed and chair alarms sound to alert nursing staff that someone needs attention. Bed and chair alarms have long been used as a preventative measure against falls that result in injury and extended stays for patients, yet how effective are these tools really?
A recent cluster randomized study designed to promote bed alarm use found they did not reduce hospital falls or the number of individuals needing physical restraints. Researchers compared 16 units that provided education, training and technical support in order to promote their use with units who simply had the devices available and did not promote them formally; as well as pre/post differences regarding patients who fell, fall related injuries sustained, and those needing physical restraints as a preventative measure for potential falls.
gps tracker for elderly nz This study included participants hospitalized at general medical, surgical and specialty units at a large urban community hospital, where nurses on each unit were randomly assigned either the intervention or control group. Intervention group nurses had access to educational materials and technical support services from nurse educators and technical support teams that promoted use of bed alarms, including providing educational materials and training on them, setting them up, addressing any technical issues that arose, as well as being provided a pager so participants could report questions or voice any concerns directly to us. wander tracker Control units did not receive formal education or training on them but still received similar support services as intervention units.
Bed and chair alarms typically consist of weight sensors embedded into thin pads that can be placed under mattresses or sheets to detect changes in pressure that signal when someone shifts their weight or attempts to get out of bed. Some alarm systems even come equipped with wireless technology for less intrusive monitoring from nurses working from remote workstations.
Problems arise with many of these devices in that they can be activated by small movements like position changes and reaching for items, leading to alarm fatigue and desensitization. False alarms may also be set off by environmental noise or light levels or when someone else in a shared room moves at the same time as an at-risk resident, activating their alarm accidentally.
To address these concerns, some hospitals are turning to sophisticated software in order to prioritize alerts and determine which are most urgent for staff to address. No matter how advanced a hospital bed or chair alarm system may be, however, it should always be remembered that alarms should only serve as one element in an overall program for preventing falls in hospital settings; when used alongside other elements of such programs they can help significantly reduce falls and injuries associated with hospital environments. medical alert systems
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