Date Available

12-2-2019

Year of Publication

2019

Degree Name

Doctor of Nursing Practice

Committee Chair

Dr. Sheila Melander

Clinical Mentor

Dr. Melanie Hardin-Pierce

Committee Member

Dr. Shirl Johnson-Bradford

Abstract

PURPOSE: Falls are the leading cause of injury in hospitalized patients. Patient sitter programs are proven to be an effective way to reduce falls in hospitalized patients. Innovative technologies have been examined that provide a safe and cost-effective way to reduce sitter costs and prevent falls. An innovative technology option is a remote centralized video monitoring system containing one video monitoring technician watching and verbally redirecting multiple patients at one time using mobile cameras. The purpose of this project is to evaluate the implementation of a remote centralized video monitoring system for adult patients in the acute care hospital setting.

METHODS: The study design is a comparative descriptive retrospective and prospective chart review to examine changes in sitter cost, fall rates, and fall with injury rates in the 3 months before and 3 months after implementing a remote centralized video monitoring system.

RESULTS: The study identified no statistically significant difference in the prevalence of falls or falls with injury when video monitoring was used as compared to when in-room sitters were used. There was statistically significant lower cost per patient day with video monitoring. The remote video monitoring system will pay for itself in nine months of in-room sitter cost.

CONCLUSION: Although there was no reduction in fall rates between in-room sitter and the remote centralized video monitoring, the fall rates were the same. Therefore, a remote centralized video monitoring system is equal to in-room sitters when comparing fall rate. The remote video monitoring system can dramatically reduce cost for healthcare systems and provide safe patient care.

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