Infections and falls: fighting roadblocks to positive outcomes.
In the early 1990's, home care nurses began asking: "What is an acceptable or normal infection rate for home care patients?" The literature at the time was full of hospital and nursing home infection rates, but there was virtually no information about infections acquired at home. At the start of this century, nurses and therapists wanted to evaluate more fully the demographics of patient falls in their homes. Who was falling? Why did they fall? How frequently do falls occur? What happened to patients who fell? In the areas of both infections and falls, caregivers wanted answers to the critical question: "How can they be prevented?"
Schantz
Mary
M
Missouri Alliance for Home Care, Jefferson City, Missouri, USA. mary@homecaremissouri.org
D000058:Accidental Falls / Q000517:prevention & control*; D003625:Data Collection; D019983:Guideline Adherence; D006699:Home Care Services / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D017053:Infection Control / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000592:standards; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D018570:Risk Assessment; D014481:United States