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BHB to host free Falls Prevention Mini Expo

Monday 18 September 2023: Falls can be a serious health risk, particularly for the elderly. On Thursday, Bermuda Hospitals Board (BHB) will celebrate international Falls Prevention Awareness Week with a mini expo for staff and the public.

BHB addresses falls risk proactively for all our patients, with internationally recognised screening assessments. While we do not have local statistics, the UK’s National Health Service reports that one in three people over 65 falls each year, with half of seniors over 80 falling. In the US, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says more than one in four adults over 65 fall each year, with one in five falls resulting in serious injury.

At Thursday’s Falls Prevention Mini Expo, the BHB Long Term Care unit-based quality and safety teams invite the public to learn about the risks of falling and what they can do to prevent it.

“Falls are a very common cause of injury,” says registered nurse Maxine Simmons. “As clinical manager of Gordon Unit, one of our four long-term care units at BHB, I am aware of the impact a fall can have on our patient’s health and recovery. As our clients are older adults, their risk of falling is greater than the general population.

“Our units have come together this year to raise awareness and encourage the public to protect themselves from falling.”

“The theme for Falls Prevention Awareness Week this year is From Awareness to Action,” says Christine Bogle-Meinzer, clinical manager of Curtis Long Term Care Unit.

“We will be equipping the public with actions they can take to help prevent them from falling.

“We also know that many older people may not tell their doctor or family members when they’ve experienced a fall. We will share why it’s important not to hide these events.”

The Falls Prevention Mini Expo will take place on Thursday 21 September from 2-5:30pm in The Resource Centre on the ground floor of King Edward VII Memorial Hospital’s General Wing. The event is free to the public and light refreshments will be provided.

“We encourage the public to attend our mini expo, speak with the doctors, nurses and allied health professionals, watch the short videos, and take the factsheets to have the information close at hand for easy reference,” said Lynnette Bean, vice president of quality and patient safety. “Falls prevention is an important part of maintaining good health.”

 

Falls Prevention Mini Expo – FLYER SEP2023

18 September 2023 Home Page, News

Nursing initiative at KEMH in the spotlight at international conference

Friday 9 December 2022: A procedure developed by Bermuda Hospitals Board nurses was presented at the British Geriatrics Society Autumn Conference on 17 November. It will be published in the Society’s Age and Ageing Journal in a few months.

The abstract, ‘A Novel Pressure Injury Care Bundle for Dependent Patients with Pressure Injuries in Bermuda’, details a nurse-driven initiative of King Edward VII Memorial Hospital’s Gordon Long Term Care Unit. It was presented by the unit’s quality and safety team, including registered nurses Girlie Baldonado, Jerry De La Cruz, Bernadette Diaz and Bernadine Edwards, Long Term Care Clinical Educator Katrina Drummond, and Gordon Unit Clinical Manager Maxine Simmons.

“Our unit-based quality and safety team – all nurses – developed a procedure to help us better manage pressure injuries and prevent our patients developing them,” said Ms Simmons. “These are wounds that occur on the skin as a result of sustained pressure. When pressure cuts off the oxygen supply to a particular area, an ulcer or wound can appear.

“Long-term care residents, especially those who are confined to bed, are more susceptible to developing pressure injuries.”

The goal of the initiative is to address severe pressure injury cases in patients who are transferred into long-term care. The team created and implemented a specific set of actions which augments the existing pressure injury management care pathway.

Nurse Jerry De La Cruz spoke at the virtual conference, which included more than 700 professionals in the field of geriatrics from around the world. His video presentation detailed the project and documented how the majority of pressure injuries, even in severe cases, healed significantly. The wounds healed completely in half of the cases.

“We looked at 30 patients who were admitted to the unit in this study,” said Mr De La Cruz.

“The results of introducing this pressure injury bundle have been very encouraging for all of us carers on the unit,” said Ms Simmons. “We worked hard looking at actions we felt would address the problem, and I can’t describe the gratification in seeing that it has worked.”

Chief of Nursing Judy Richardson said: “Providing patient-centred care, where we focus on the needs of the patient first, is a BHB value which our Gordon Unit nurses exemplified when they developed this care plan. BHB is proud of their work. The British Geriatrics Society publishing it in their journal gives international recognition of its importance.”

9 December 2022 Home Page, News