Do sitters prevent falls? A review of the literature.

@article{Lang2014DoSP,
  title={Do sitters prevent falls? A review of the literature.},
  author={Carrie E. Lang},
  journal={Journal of gerontological nursing},
  year={2014},
  volume={40 5},
  pages={
          24-33; quiz 34-5
        }
}
  • Carrie E. Lang
  • Published 1 May 2014
  • Psychology
  • Journal of gerontological nursing
Preventing falls is a primary nursing concern, especially among older adult patients. Employing a sitter is a common but costly intervention. This article is a comprehensive review of the literature on sitter use and its effect on fall rates in acute care. The search was conducted in CINAHL, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, and the Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection and included articles published between 1995 and 2013. The articles included reported data on studies increasing or decreasing sitter… 
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24 Citations
Highly Influential Citations
2
Background Citations
9
Results Citations
2

24 Citations

Citation Type

Citation Type

Sitters as a Patient Safety Strategy to Reduce Hospital Falls
TLDR
Evidence is scant that adding sitters to usual care reduces falls, and evidence suggested that interventions that included nurse assessment tools or a close observation unit were effective alternatives to sitters.
Exploring falls prevention capabilities, barriers and training needs among patient sitters in a hospital setting: A pilot survey
Exploring hospital patient sitters' fall prevention task readiness: A cross-sectional survey.
TLDR
There is a gap between what patient sitters report as the cause of falls and what was suggested to prevent falls (environment factors), and education and practical training addressing challenging patient behaviours may improve sitters' task readiness to assist in preventing falls on wards.
A solution to sitters that won't fall short.
  • T. Bock
  • Medicine
    Nursing management
  • 2017
TLDR
As a nurse manager, you play a role in shaping organizational culture and ensuring that staff members fully understand and support new patient safety measures, and creating effective interventions and efficient usage of scarce resources.
One to one specialling and sitters in acute care hospitals: A scoping review.
Improving Hospital Patient Falls: Leveraging Staffing Characteristics and Processes of Care
TLDR
In the presence of risk, patient injuries and safety were improved by optimizing staffing skill mix and use of prevention protocols.
Preventing Falls in Hospitalized Patients: State of the Science.
Impact of the CMS No-Pay Policy on Hospital-Acquired Fall Prevention Related Practice Patterns
TLDR
The CMS no-pay policy increased utilization of fall prevention strategies despite little evidence that these measures prevent falls.
An observational study of older patient specialling in acute hospital settings.
TLDR
The findings suggest that Specialling practices differ according to patient need and that the staff member's familiarity with the ward and their patients are important factors in positive older patient specialling.
Constant Observation for Older Adults in Acute Care: A Mixed Methods Study
TLDR
A convergent parallel mixed methods design study was conducted to describe constant observational practices in two hospitals, finding nurses had a positive perception of constant observation use, particularly to prevent falls and the removal of treatment equipment.
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References

SHOWING 1-10 OF 15 REFERENCES
Effective assessment of use of sitters by nurses in inpatient care settings.
TLDR
The results showed that if the number of sitter requests was higher, the total number of restraints would be lower but the total fall rate would be higher, and hospitals should include a tool similar to the PAAT in guidelines related to provision of constant observation or use of sitters.
An Evaluation of a Sitter Reduction Program Intervention
TLDR
Evaluating the effectiveness of a sitter reduction program by examining the differences between sitter use and falls in an acute care hospital indicated that a significant decrease in sitterUse and falls remained constant.
Observation assistants: sitter effectiveness and industry measures.
TLDR
The nursing quality team found that using assessment tools helped to objectively categorize which patients are at risk and the sitter utilization case was unable to provide correlation of sitter use to decreased fall rates, elopement, or assault behaviors.
Can volunteer companions prevent falls among inpatients? A feasibility study using a pre-post comparative design
TLDR
Volunteers may play an important and cost-effective role in enhancing health care and can prevent falls in older hospital patients when they are present and full implementation of this program would require the recruitment of adequate numbers of volunteers willing to sit with all patients considered at risk of falling in hospital.
The Cost‐Effectiveness of a Patient‐Sitter Program in an Acute Care Hospital: A Test of the Impact of Sitters on the Incidence of Falls and Patient Satisfaction
TLDR
The research presented presents the research conducted to analyze costs and benefits of the patient‐sitter program in relation to patient falls and patient satisfaction.
Fall Prevention Practices in Adult Medical-Surgical Nursing Units Described by Nurse Managers
TLDR
Nursing practices around fall prevention, as perceived by nurse managers in adult, medical-surgical nursing units, are described, to build systems that ensure evidence-based nursing interventions are consistently applied in acute care.
A sitter-reduction program in an acute health care system.
TLDR
A sitter-reduction program in one hospital resulted in $1.2 million in annual savings without negatively impacting fall rates and the intentional presence of the nursing staff was pivotal to the successful reduction in sitter use.
Constant observation practices in the general hospital setting: a national survey.
TLDR
Overall use, expense, staffing patterns, funding strategies, and cost-saving interventions were assessed, and hospital staff were educated about the costs and the appropriate use of CO.
A volunteer companion-observer intervention reduces falls on an acute aged care ward.
TLDR
This intervention aimed to prevent high-risk in-patients on an acute aged care ward from falling by significantly reducing the incidence of falls in the population at highest risk of falling.
Patient Falls and Open Visiting Hours: A Case Study in a Taiwanese Medical Center
TLDR
This study investigated the linkages between patient falls and open visiting hours in an acute care setting in Taiwan and found more than 35% of the family members/aides who were watching patients were ineffective in preventing falls.
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