Patient Falls Tip Sheet
The patient falls tip sheet emphasizes that most falls are preventable through proactive communication, patient and family engagement, environmental safety, appropriate mobility support and targeted fall‑prevention practices.
Who it’s for:
- Risk professionals and patient safety leaders
- Nursing leaders, bedside nurses, and frontline clinical teams
- Rehabilitation therapists and mobility specialists
- Quality, compliance, and clinical operations teams
- Medical staff leaders and interdisciplinary safety committees
What it can be used for:
- Standardizing fall‑prevention practices across units and care environments
- Strengthening documentation, communication, and patient/family engagement
- Supporting training, safety huddles, and competency refreshers
- Guiding audits, rounding, and targeted fall‑risk assessments
What’s inside:
- Situation: Falls cause frequent, serious injuries and are common sentinel events
- Background: Key contributors (handoffs, look-alike/sound-alike drugs, workflow gaps)
- Assessment: Falls occur everywhere, cause harm, and are often preventable
- Recommendations: Improve communication, support mobility, engage families, and address environment
Access the Tip Sheet
Falls cause frequent, serious injuries and are common sentinel events.
Related Resources
Toolkits/Methodology
ASHRM has identified the following resources on patient safety to assist you in identifying useful information and helpful contacts.