8 8 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 7
T
he OR staff at the Hospital of
the University of
Pennsylvania (HUP) in
Philadelphia, Pa., knew they were having too many patient
falls: 9 in 2014 and 12 in 2015, a disturbing rise they attrib-
uted to the rise in outpatient surgeries and the challenges of caring for
ambulatory patients as opposed to bedridden inpatients.
"We needed to ask questions more applicable to the outpatient set-
ting," says Ann Marie Morris, MSN, RN, CNOR, HUP's nurse manager
of perioperative quality and safety. Ms. Morris says that although each
of their patient falls happened away from the operating table, they
SURGICAL
ERRORS
4 Keys to Prevent Patient Falls
Keep your patients from taking a tumble.
Brielle Gregory
Associate Editor
• HOLD ON If a patient appears to be a falls risk, designate a nurse to help her get dressed and make it safely to her ride home
after surgery.
