Does acute care for the elderly (ACE) unit decrease the incidence of falls?

To determine whether acute care for the elderly (ACE) units decrease the incidence of patient falls compared to general medical and surgical (GMS) units, a non-concurrent prospective study included individuals aged 65 and older admitted to ACE or GMS units over a 2-year span was done. There were 7069 admissions corresponded to 28,401 patient-days. A total of 149 falls were reported for an overall incidence rate (IR) of 5.2 falls per 1000 patient-days, 95% CI, 4.4/1000 –6.1/1000 patient-days. The falls IR ratio for patients in ACE unit compared to those in non-ACE units after adjusting for age, sex, prescribed psychotropics and hypnotics, and Morse Fall Score was 0.27/1000 patient-days; 95% CI, 0.13–0.54; p

Source: Geriatric Nursing - November 11, 2017 Category: Nursing Authors: Ahmed Abdalla, Mehul Adhaduk, Raad A. Haddad, Yanal Alnimer, Carlos F. R íos-Bedoya, Ghassan Bachuwa Tags: Feature Article Source Type: research