Fall Prevention in Hospital: Applying the theory of functional consequences

Falls are classified as a public health problem. Every year, 37 million people use the health services because of a fall-related injury, 424,000 of which have fatal consequences. This book puts the phenomenon of falls into context at hospital level. It describes the actions taken in an Internal Medicine department after the magnitude of this problem was identified. In order to change this picture, the Inpatient Falls Prevention project was implemented, which guides the nursing team's actions based on the Functional Consequences Theory, developed by Carol Miller. It began in the first quarter of 2013, with the main aim of reducing the number of falls among inpatients. Its implementation led to a change in the behavior of healthcare professionals, promoting care focused on fall prevention and client safety, leading to a reduction in risk factors and consequently a reduction in the occurrence of falls.