In order to maintain health and well-being of your patients it is your responsibility, as part of a team, to ensure that the environment around your patient is clear of all obstacles that can be harmful and cause injury. When I was working, we had classifications of different cultures, one in particular is that of safety culture. This is when you take an assessment of the area in which you will be working and take note for high-risk situations or hazards that could be harmful to our patients. It is a team effort and every one must collaborate in order to facilitate. If you do find anything and you are unable to correct or fix, you must take the chain of command action and report the issue so that you ensure it will get done.
There are many different ways to assess and determine what risk factors could cause a slip and fall. For you as a nursing assistant you would be responsible to the environment around your patients or the unit in which you will be working. Your daily briefs with your team leaders would inform you of which patients are at a higher risk than others to be aware of. All patients are our responsibility, not just the ones we are assigned directly to.
First you take a full assessment to the area in which you will be working and remove or put aside any items of clutter. A clear path to the bathroom. Make sure the lighting is appropriate for your patients to see and get around. You can open window curtains and blinds to give more daylight. It also helps the patients that are in the hospital to know what time of day it is. Look to see if the floors are wet and slippery. If you see that there is water on the floor you can clean it up. You are capable of cleaning the area instead of calling the housekeepers. I have cleaned up many a spill on the unit and it shows that you are part of a team. Not one to pass it off.
The beds in the hospitals and nursing homes are electric, make sure they are always down to the ground, especially after any care given to your patient. That the wheels are locked and if necessary, side rails up and bed alarm on. Side rails and bed alarms are used for patients who are confused and disoriented. Your team leaders should inform you of this upon your rounds.
Depending on the environment of where your patients are they may be able to have their own TVs, computers or other electrical gadgets. All these items have wiring and extension cords. These cords are a big risk factor to tripping. If they are to be permanent, they should be taped down on the floor to at least help decrease the possibility of a fall. Or you may have to rearrange some furniture. One of our patients had a family member bring a long extension cord for his use to the bedside and we were not informed of it being used. I walked into the room to check on the patients and tripped over the wire. Luckily, I did not get hurt, but what if someone did. One important mention, if you work in a hospital any electrical items or extension cords brought in from home must be approved by environmental services. They must meet the proper requirements for the electrical system. You do not want to overload and cause a fire.
The best way to maintain our patient’s safety is to conduct Purposeful hourly rounds where you are addressing any needs, such as going to the bathroom, taking a walk in the hall to change position and mindset. If they complain of pain and discomfort inform the LPN or RN the patient needs medication. Make sure upon leaving any room the call bell is within reach, bed down to the ground, obstacles of clutter removed and patient is left comfortable with no complaints offered. In doing these rounds you are maintaining the highest standard of care promoting quality and safety for your patients.
