Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospital Fall Prevention Program showcased at the Veterans Health Administration National Patient Safety Symposium
Three Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospital clinicians shared their plan for optimizing fall prevention at the 2024 Veterans Health Administration Patient Safety Symposium held in Orlando, Florida May 21-23.
Following a submitted proposal on how to improve falls by focusing on a solid foundation for employees, Hines Patient Safety Manager Kyungsun Lee, Evidence-Based Practice Coordinator Adam Simpson, and Shared Governance Coordinator Aaron Desmond were selected to attend the symposium as podium presenters.
“Our team put in extensive effort to prepare for the presentation, which paid off as it went exceptionally well,” said Lee.
During the Foundations of Patient Safety Track on May 23, Lee, Simpson, and Desmond showcased their presentation, titled “Modernizing Fall Prevention to Improve Nurse Engagement and Patient Safety,” to an audience of nearly 50 patient safety professionals throughout the VA.
The presentation centered around the several interventions Hines has put in place to improve nurse engagement and standardize references available to all nurses in the event of a fall. Other components of the presentation included how the Fall Program eliminates silos and enhances collaboration while improving patient safety, care delivery and the work environment.
For Lee, his biggest takeaway from the symposium was collaborating with other patient safety managers outside of VISN 12.
“Enhancing patient safety requires a collective effort, and national collaboration plays a critical role on expanding the good work.”
Simpson said that since the conclusion of the symposium, they have had received requests from five other VA facilities and one VISN community of practice requesting that Hines give additional presentations or work with their teams to build a better model for their program.
The overwhelmingly positive response to their presentation reinforced Desmond’s belief that they represented Hines well at the symposium.
“I think that we will continue to build layers into our Fall Program to make it the most robust in the nation in terms of preventing falls and engaging frontline staff,” said Desmond.