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pamelac Asked February 2021

Anyone working with an "alarm-free" nursing home?

My mother had a motion sensor on her wheelchair and bed. They said she stopped needing it because she stopped trying to walk alone (really can't now). It's also hard to rise from her broda chair. Somehow, she fell out of the chair recently, so I asked them to put the motion sensor back. Now I'm told they have become "alarm-free." The reason is the noise disturbs people, may actaully cause a fall. Some people claim fewer falls happen with no alarms. Has anyone here had good or bad events with an "alarm-free" nursing home?

Taarna Feb 2021
Alarms do not prevent falls; they only alarm after a person gets off the sensor (fall already happened). Physical restraints are also out since they can cause pressure wounds from lack of movement. Every facility needs to have a protocol for fall prevention and assessment tool(s) to assess risk for falls. Ask the facility for copy of their protocols and their assessment tool(s). Ask how often each client is evaluated for falls since this is a huge quality assurance issue.

Llamalover47 Feb 2021
It is true that SOME NHs are phasing out physical restraints.

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geddyupgo Feb 2021
There is definitely a trend towards noise reduction in assisted living, memory care and short term rehab facilities. In many instances that has included alarms as well as overhead paging. Many facilities do not have pagers for their aides, only nurses. Even pre pandemic the nursing staff was tight and now it is worse particularly on the evening shifts when there are no activities and residents are theoretically, at least, sleeping. You can easily have 30 patients with one nurse charting and one on the phone with doctors or families and 4-5 CNAs. That's ok when everything is placid but then one CNA goes on a break and 2 others have to help a 2 person assist resident to the bathroom. If there are 4 CNAs on site that leaves one to answer call buttons and check rooms (the way most facilities are designed you almost always have to go into the room to check it). If you have two residents calling for help for any reason at the same time, the CNA has to make an ugly decision who to go to first. Now this situation could exist for only 2-3 minutes but that is all it takes for a fall to occur.
Put the ball back in the facilities court and sweetly ask if they have any ideas or suggestions.

Daughterof1930 Feb 2021
During the four years my mother was in a nursing home I never once saw an alarm prevent a fall. The fall happened, then the alarm, then the help came. Falls are a sad reality in aging, doubt they’ll ever be prevented despite any measure

cwillie Feb 2021
I don't know about going alarm free but I do think that their usefulness in a facility setting is very limited: there is seldom anyone close enough at hand to prevent a fall even when they do set off the alarm, and when someone is setting it off repeatedly (as often happens just with regular movement) it tends to become background noise, especially if more than one resident is using them.
pamelac Feb 2021
Thanks for your reply. You're right: nothing can prevent all falls, and alarms are noisy. But maybe there's a compromise somewhere: limit sensors to specific issues? How about the ones that silently contact a pager worn by an aide? Or if this is a trend, could they (or do they) train staff to be more watchful or check on residents more often.
My mother was found when she was on the floor and called HELP. How long was she there? What if she was unconscious or struggling to get up? Just looking to minimize the harm.

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