Fall Prevention and Injury Reduction Utilizing Continuous Video Monitoring: A Quality Improvement Initiative.

BACKGROUND: Reduction of falls and fall-related injuries in hospital patients remains a priority. Consideration of technology via continuous video monitoring (CVM) is relevant for safe, quality care with favorable cost implications. LOCAL PROBLEM: Although fall rates were in the acceptable national safety standard guidelines, interventions were explored with the aim to further decrease falls using CVM. METHODS: The quality improvement project collected descriptive statistics. Run charts portrayed data trends for falls and injuries in 2-week increments over a 6-month period. INTERVENTIONS: Two-way cameras and a virtual sitter were used to observe fall risk patients. RESULTS: Implementation of CVM with virtual sitters depicted a 14% decline in fall rates and a 6% decrease in fall-related injury rates with positive budget implications. CONCLUSION: Cost savings, fall rates, and fall injury rates all improved with the inception of video monitoring.

Fall Prevention and Injury Reduction Utilizing Virtual Sitters in Hospitalized Patients: A Literature Review.

Falls and fall-associated injuries continue to occur in hospitals worldwide. Video monitoring using virtual sitters is a novel, cost-effective concept that has emerged as an intervention to address falls and maintain safety for hospitalized patients. This literature review examines the evidence regarding hospital-associated falls and fall-related injuries when video monitoring and virtual sitters were included as an intervention. Ten observational studies and two quasi-experimental studies (N = 12) were identified for inclusion from the Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Scopus, and PubMed databases. Overall, current evidence is focused on fall rates and cost savings. Eight studies demonstrated a fall reduction and the remaining three showed no statistical difference in fall rates with the use of video surveillance or virtual sitters. Cost savings for these interventions are based on the transition from 1:1 observation to virtual sitters; all 12 studies reported decreased overall costs transitioning to virtual sitters. Small sample size and limited studies are the primary limitations of current published evidence. As the novel clinical practice evolves and more hospitals are equipped with video capability, future research with virtual sitters should include expanded patient populations, a focus on fall-related injuries, and examinations of staff safety.