Tech & Innovation in Healthcare

Question: We’re concerned about the safety and fall risks of our older patients in our facility when they attempt to get out of bed. Our facility is already short staffed, and there’s complaints of false alarms and alarm fatigue from our caregivers.

Is there a way our staff could be efficiently alerted to patients getting out of bed?

Oregon Subscriber

Answer: False alarms and alarm fatigue are real concerns that caregivers deal with on a daily basis while also trying to ensure the safety of their patients. That being said, you don’t have to look further than your patients’ feet to stay aware of your patients’ fall risk.

Researchers led by nurses at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center studied the efficacy of a monitoring system for fall-risk patients at Ohio State’s Brain and Spine Hospital. Patients wore the Patient is Up (PUP) Smart Socks developed by Palarum for 2,116 patient days, during which researchers found that none of the at-risk patients fell while wearing the socks.

The PUP Smart Socks are outfitted with pressure sensors that send an alert to nearby caregivers when the sensors are activated as the patient attempts to stand up. If the sensors are activated, the socks wirelessly send an alert to the three nearest caregivers. If no caregiver enters the room within 60 seconds, the socks send another alert to the three next closest caregivers. If no caregivers enter the room within 90 seconds, the socks send an all-staff call.

“Patients can fall while they are hospitalized, and this can sometimes lead to injury or death. We know that existing fall prevention measures do not work consistently,” said Tammy Moore, PhD, RN, senior investigator and associate chief nurse of Ohio State’s Neurological Institute and Medical Surgical in an Aug. 23, 2022 press release. While the patients wore the socks during the study, researchers observed zero falls, whereas the historical fall rate is four falls per 1,000 patient days.

Researchers also found that the average nurse response time was around 24 seconds. The socks’ built-in safety sensors combined with quick caregiver response times could offer a safe option to help reduce the number of falls during hospitalizations.