Patient Falls

Falls have consistently been the largest single category of reported incidents for acute hospital in-patients. The number of falls and risk factors have been identified and reported since the 1950s and are mostly unchanged in the 2010s. The main response to patient falls has been to treat the physiological and psychological presenting symptoms and condition by providing nursing care (mostly through assessment and monitoring) to minimise risk with the patient as a passive care recipient. As over 70% of falls are un-witnessed (unassisted) the active role of the patient in falls has not been fully explored. The new model (DIAL-F) is proposed which reverses the traditional Human Factors / Ergonomics model by describing the system elements in terms of the level of flexibility or transience (duration of action/involvement). The patient is the most transient element of the system, represented as a series of personas (archetypal descriptions) to include physical, cognitive and behavioural changes. This allows a more stimulating, riskier environment described as the ‘horticultural model of care’.