Room T2
To spread evidence and knowledge aiming to eliminate injuries caused
by falls- this belief led to the creation of
About Room T2
Many accidents happen while the patient is alone.
It is said that the number of patient falls accounts for nearly 30% of all accidents, and about 90% of those happen in the absence of nurses and healthcare professionals. There is a range, of course, in the physical impact of each accident, but according to the statistics, those numbers are accurate.
For example, when comparing falls and so-called injection accidents, both of them often occur, but the reason for the occurrence is different. In the case of an injection, it occurs through the intervention of a medical person, but in a fall, it occurs when the patient is alone, not receiving care. Instead of falling while we walk with them, the patient feels that they are fine, and then moves, resulting in them slipping, tripping, or staggering. Therefore, it is necessary to take accident prevention measures with that in mind.
We need to share all information available.
What we need to know first is the physical condition of the patient. In other words, what is the risk of them experiencing a fall? We need to start with an assessment. If this assessment is conducted properly and appropriate measures are implemented in advance, the number of falls should decrease.
Therefore, we emphasize that each patient’s condition is understood and shared, and the accident details and statistics are reported, analyzed, and utilized for accident prevention. Although it is practically impossible to reduce accidents to zero, we believe that an environment in which all kinds of information can be shared and used is needed to get that number as close to zero as possible.
Room T2 creates a place for medical safety officers to interact.
On the other hand, another problem that arises is grasping the actual condition of falls. As mentioned above, when an accident occurs while the patient is alone, it may be difficult to determine the cause of the injury, even if the result is known. In other words, there are important parts that don’t appear in the numbers. Therefore, at Room T2, nurses working in clinical settings gather to talk about their experiences in such situations, such as accidents that occurred or accidents that were prevented by doing this action. We started this activity with the aim of creating a place where we can obtain information, wisdom, and knowledge.
Considering ways to prevent the occurrence of falls is crucial in sharing prevention awareness, and most of all, towards improving the medical environment of the patient. Nurses working in the clinical field should try various things and think on how to improve the medical treatment environment of their institutions. I think it is important to find out what kind of problems are in our workplace, how to find solutions, and to come up with a methodology to reach them.
Improving the medical environment through sharing information obtained from a nurses meeting- that’s the role of Room T2, I’m sure of it.
FounderYoshiko Sugiyama
Graduated from the Japanese Red Cross Musashino Junior College’s Nursing Department, and started as a nurse at the Musashino Red Cross Hospital.
She joined the Department of Education at the Kanagawa Prefectural College of Nursing and Education. Since 1999, she has served as the head of the Nursing Safety Committee at the Musashino Red Cross Hospital.
She joined the NDP (Total Quality Management Project in Japan) as a hospital member, and at the same time, became a member of the NDP’s Medical Technology Group, involved in NDP activities. She assumed her current position in April 2013.
