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.