Patient Safety is a top priority for hospitals nationwide. Pediatric safety prevention is a focal point of the educational endeavors at Nicklaus Children's Hospital. Nicklaus Children's Hospital has taken the lead in developing a tool to prevent pediatric falls and thereby enhance safety.
This fall prevention program has been implemented, tested and proven to be an effective tool in the prevention of unintentional injury due to falls.
The Humpty Dumpty Falls Prevention team published an article examining the performance of the current tool, and identifying potential changes to the scoring parameters. These modifications are being studied to ensure reliability and validity of the scale for future changes. At this time, THE SCALE AND PROGRAM REMAIN THE SAME, and no changes are required on the part of organizations. After rigorous testing and once the scale is officially redeveloped, we will launch a comprehensive communication campaign regarding any updates. For sites that already have a license, information on how to access these changes free of charge will be provided.
Where is the Humpty Dumpty Falls Prevention Program™?
The Humpty Dumpty Falls Prevention Program™ is currently in over 900 hospitals across the nation and over 160 hospitals and medical centers internationally. The ultimate goal of the program is to improve the quality of care and reduce the risk of injuries in pediatric patients across the globe. The vision is one of recognition and sharing the best practices and research to keep children safe around the world.
Resources & Downloads
Patient Safety is a top priority for hospitals nationwide. Pediatric safety prevention is a focal point of the educational endeavors at Nicklaus Children's Hospital. Nicklaus Children's Hospital has taken the lead in developing a tool to prevent pediatric falls and thereby enhance safety. This fall prevention program has been implemented, tested and proven to be an effective tool in the prevention of unintentional injury due to falls.
Program Instructions and Cheat Sheets
Publications
Hear what our other hospitals had to say:
“CECH at BHMC implemented the Humpty Dumpty Falls Prevention program in 2012. It has been a great tool and resource for our children’s hospital. I know we feel competent in supporting a fall program that is evidence based and nationally recognized. You have always been a great resource for us and the collaboration is beneficial to all the children whom we serve.”
- Nicole Sant’Elia RN MSN ARNP CCRN, Nurse Manager
Pediatric Hematology Oncology Unit, Pediatric Outpatient Infusion Center, Child Life & Music Therapy Programs,
Broward Health Medical Center, Chris Evert Children’s Hospital, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
“My organization is an adult hospital with a small 8-bed pediatric unit. We incorporated the Humpty Dumpty several years ago. The staff appreciates having a scale that recognizes that boys can be a higher fall risk. Our unit serves patients age 0-20 and we use Humpty Dumpty on all of our patients. Last year when The Joint Commission was here and questioned the use of this scale on a 19 year old Nicklaus Children's Hospital provided documentation regarding evidence based practice and TJC approval for patients up to 21 years of age. It was awesome to share with the surveyors that the scale we were using had tested and approved. It is rare for us to have any falls. Over the past two years there have maybe been 2.”
- Julie Bowen, RN, BSN, Clinical Supervisor Pediatrics
Community Regional Medical Center, Fresno, CA
“Prior to adopting the Humpty Dumpty Falls Prevention Program, we reviewed the literature for a validated pediatric fall risk assessment tool. We found the Humpty Dumpty sensitivity to be better than our current tool based on internal quality improvement work. Participating in the current research study conducted by Nicklaus Children’s which examines the psychometrics of the Humpty Dumpty tool will allow us to re-evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of the tool one year post implementation and allow us to explore potential gaps in reliability. While inputting study data, we have already uncovered gaps in the functionality of our EHR in capturing information needed to complete the tool accurately. We have used this opportunity to engage our nursing informatics team in discovering solutions to better capture fall risk factors for our patients here at CHOP.”
- Kimberly DiGerolamo
Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
“Our users much prefer it over the scale we previously used. The feedback is that this scale takes into consideration more unique elements of childhood. Yes, more patients score “at risk,” but the truth is that the hospitalized child is at risk for falls due to the identified factors – growth and development, medications, procedures, diagnosis, etc.”
- Sandy Johnson,Nursing Informatics
Children's of Alabama
“The General Hospital of Itapecerica da Serra, Sao Paulo, Brazil has experienced a decline in pediatric patient falls after implementing the Humpty Dumpty Falls Preventions Program from a rate of 1.16 per 1000 patient days in 2013 to 0.89 per 1000 patient days in 2014.”
- Lisiane Valdez Gaspar, Qualidade, Gerente da Qualidade e Segurança
Hospital Geral de Itapecerica da Serra