NOVEMBER IS FALLS PREVENTION MONTH

By completing a gap analysis with your RNAO long-term care coach, they can help assess your current falls program to see how it aligns with best practice recommendations from the Preventing Falls and Reducing Injury from Falls best practice guideline (BPG). The coach can then assist with next steps, such as,  creating an action/implementation plan and sharing various falls prevention resources found on the RNAO Long-Term Care (LTC) Toolkit. Read how one LTC home took advantage of RNAO resources to decrease their falls.

“We went from being process-focused to being people focused,” shared Gurpreet. “It was difficult to balance the additional workload at first, but by shifting the narrative to a culture of ownership, we found ourselves less reactive and able to build momentum by empowering the team!” 

The interprofessional team partnered with their RNAO LTC best practice implementation coach, Danny Savinkov and completed the gap analysis on Preventing Falls and Reducing Injury from Falls. Building on Sienna’s existing falls prevention protocols, the team identified high-risk areas and developed strategic priorities, looking at how best to leverage available resources in their action plan. First, focus on post-fall huddles to identify the root cause of a fall; then, update the resident’s care plan with falls prevention interventions. The team engaged the residents and their families to evaluate the effectiveness of the interventions and revise the plan, as needed, based on their feedback. The falls prevention lead also conducted fall huddles with the front-line teams. These interactive meetings serve numerous functions: promoting consistent engagement across all shifts, fostering two-way communication, building competency, empowering the team to drive change and laying the foundation for sustainability, in this case, purposeful rounding.  

Concurrently, Gurpreet leveraged the newly established process to recognize and reinforce quality improvement in falls prevention. Emphasizing the power of leadership visibility, the home hosted luncheons across all shifts and acknowledged direct care providers for their work with recognition awards. This approach brought staff together and encouraged them to take pride in their work, which resulted in improving the residents’ quality of life and their well being.

Gurpreet and the Villa Santa Maria team continue their journey towards reducing falls as they work to sustain practice change by encouraging more direct care staff to become RNAO Best Practice Champions. 

Meet some of the newest coaches in our team!

In addition, the LTC best practice program team says, “farewell and best wishes” to Associate Director Janet Chee, as she transitions to RNAO’s implementation science team and we welcome Dr. Julia Fineczko!

I am inspired by the dedication, commitment, and leadership demonstrated by the teams providing care to residents across the province. 

I look forward to collaborating with you to implement best practices in your LTC homes that elevate the quality of care for residents and families while enhancing the working environment for staff.

Your insights are invaluable and I encourage you to reach out with any suggestions on how our team can enhance our efforts to build on our progress to date and make a meaningful impact in the LTC sector.

The RNAO Long-Term Care Best Practices Program is funded by the Government of Ontario. All work produced by RNAO is editorially independent from its funding source.