Bedside nurses leading the way for falls prevention: an evidence-based approach.

Incidence and characteristics of patient falls and fall prevention programs have been a topic of interest in the literature; however, few articles on fall reduction strategies written by staff nurses have been published. Falls in hospitalized patients are serious threats to patient safety. According to Morse, sequelae of falls are the second leading cause of death in the United States. Costs resulting from falls alone have been reported at between 0.85% and 1.5% of the total health care expenses within the United States, Australia, the European Union, and the United Kingdom. A fall is the most reported safety incident in inpatients and occurs in all adult clinical areas. Accidental falls are among the most common incidents reported in hospitals and occur in approximately 2% of all hospital stays. Growing evidence indicates that falls occurring in the hospital can be reduced with planning and intervention techniques