Imagine it: you’re a caregiver in a nursing home facility, administering medication to one of your patients. It’s evening and the building has quieted down for the most part; many residents have already turned in for the night. As you finish with your patient and are gently closing the door behind you, you hear it. At first it’s a muffled thud – a sound you can’t quite place – and then it’s a throaty moan from down the hall. Your heart accelerates and fills with panic. You dart in the direction of the noise, desperate to find its source. When you finally arrive, you find a resident on the floor, tears of pain streaming down cheeks, bruises already blooming. You’re terrified and heartbroken as you kneel down to the floor and shout over your shoulder for backup.
Perhaps this is a scenario you dread of experiencing as a caregiver to the elderly – or perhaps it’s one you’re already familiar with. Whatever the case, falls in nursing homes is a looming and near-constant threat. It is estimated that 75% of patients experience a fall at some point. Injuries from falls can be devastating, and the facility often pays the price when they occur.
There have certainly been various types of fall protection plans that facilities have implemented over the years, such as walking programs or the use of companions. The use of call systems is another idea that works in theory, though they fail to provide accurate and consistent fall intervention.
An Advanced Fall Protection Plan
Now imagine it: you’re assisting one of your patients when your pocket buzzes from your cell phone. You check it and receive an alert that one of your other residents is at risk of falling. It tells you which resident and which room number, so you pace quickly down the hall and find your patient fiddling around in his or her bed. You ask how you can help.
This advanced fall intervention technology is not just a whimsical thought – it’s an actual monitoring system brought to you by Hello Nurse. Our system is the only one of its kind that has the ability to notify caregivers of possible issues before the incident can occur.
How the System Works
Installation of the Hello Nurse system simply involves placing one pressure pad on a resident’s bed or chair. Each Receiver can monitor up to 30 residents at a time, and when someone is attempting to rise, an alert will automatically signal. These alerts can be sent to a pager or cell phone, providing immediate details to staff members that include the patient’s room number and name.
And one of the best parts is that the Hello Nurse system is always on and monitoring for specific events on residents. Because the technology works independently of facilities’ IT systems and does not require the use of Wi-Fi, caregivers can rely on it to constantly be effective. And since it operates on a pager system, the alerts are always instantaneous.
The many benefits of a fall prevention system far outweigh the fear of a resident experiencing a traumatic – and potentially life-threatening – fall. Don’t let yourself or your facility live with that fear anymore. Look to Hello Nurse for more information and ways to learn about our product. Help is always on the way.