RE: Fall Vs. Helped to floor

[Nathan Lake]

Title: Message

Whether you want to call it a fall or not, it is still an "incident" and appropriate steps should be taken. I used to teach my nurses and CNAs to fill out incident reports for everything that was the least bit out of the ordinary. They came to see them not as something bad, but as a way of communicating with management. I would rather be throwing away a few useless reports than not having the reports I really needed.   Here is a list of some of the events I asked to be reported as incident reports that many facilities do not report:   Family disputes observed by the staff (even minor disagreement or discussions of importance) Resident complaints about the facility, staff, or roommates. Damaged or missing resident personal items. Attempted violence (even very minor). If a resident takes a swing at another resident and misses....file it as an IR. The next time they might not miss. Choking of any kind or degree. Family violation of any facility regulation or MD order (visiting outside of visiting hours, bringing candy to a resident with diabetes, etc) Staff, resident, or visitor slips or falls. (Many facilities do not do IR for visitor falls..they should).     Nathan   -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, December 10, 2003 10:19 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Fall Vs. Helped to floor I over heard a conversation today "The resident did not fall---We helped her to the floor so it is not a fall and I didnt fill out an incident report" Subsequently the resident has a fractured hip found 36 hours after the "non" fall.   Now---I thought if a resident was helped to the floor  it is still a fall and should be treated as such.   Am I correct??????   Thanks