Identifying Appropriate Nursing Home Resources to Reduce Fall-Related Emergency Department Transfers.

Guerbaai, Raphaëlle A; Kressig, Reto W; Zeller, Andreas; Tröger, Monika; Nickel, Christian H; Benkert, Brigitte; Wellens, Nathalie I H; Osińska, Magdalena; Simon, Michael; Zúñiga, Franziska (2022). Identifying Appropriate Nursing Home Resources to Reduce Fall-Related Emergency Department Transfers. Journal of the American Medical Directors Association, 23(8), 1304-1310.e2. Elsevier 10.1016/j.jamda.2022.01.063

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OBJECTIVES

To describe potentially avoidable fall-related transfers to the emergency department (ED), and to identify infrastructure, training needs, and resources deemed appropriate for implementation in nursing homes (NHs) to decrease fall-related transfers to EDs.

DESIGN

A multi-method design, including (1) in-depth case review by an expert panel, (2) structured discussion with NH stakeholders, and (3) appropriateness rating.

SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS

Fall-related transfers were identified from the prospective reporting of every unplanned hospital transfer occurring within 21 months, collected during the INTERCARE study in 11 Swiss NHs.

METHODS

Eighty-one fall-related transfers were rated for avoidability by a 2-round expert panel. NH stakeholders were consulted to discuss key implementable resources for NHs to mitigate potentially avoidable fall-related transfers. A questionnaire composed of 21 contextually adapted resources was sent to a larger group of stakeholders, to rate the appropriateness for implementation in NHs. χ2 tests were used to assess whether avoidability was associated with an ED visit and to describe transfers. The RAND/UCLA method for appropriateness was used to determine appropriate resources.

RESULTS

One of 4 fall-related transfers were rated as potentially avoidable. A positive association was found between an ED visit and a rating of avoidability (χ2 (1, N = 81) = 18.0, P < .001). Fourteen resources, including developing partnerships with outpatient clinics to access imaging services and strengthening geriatric expertise in nursing homes through clinical training and advanced nurse practitioners, were rated as appropriate by NH stakeholders for NH implementation to reduce potentially avoidable fall-related ED transfers.

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS

Access to diagnostic equipment, geriatric expertise, and clinical training is essential to reduce fall-related potentially avoidable transfers from NHs. Implementing and supporting advanced practice nurses or nurses in extended roles provides NH directors, policymakers, and health care institutions with the possibility of re-engineering resources to limit unnecessary transfers, which are detrimental for resident quality of care and costly for the health system.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

UniBE Contributor:

Simon, Michael

ISSN:

1538-9375

Publisher:

Elsevier

Language:

English

Submitter:

Pubmed Import

Date Deposited:

23 Feb 2022 11:45

Last Modified:

05 Dec 2022 16:10

Publisher DOI:

10.1016/j.jamda.2022.01.063

PubMed ID:

35192846

Uncontrolled Keywords:

Emergency department transfers falls hospitalizations long-term care nursing homes potentially avoidable transfers

BORIS DOI:

10.48350/165933

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/165933

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