To help prevent falls, my hospital has implemented a new patient-safety tool called a fall kit. Besides bright-yellow armbands that say FALL RISK, it contains bright-yellow no-slip socks to increase traction on hospital floors. It also includes a no-slip chair pad that keeps patients from slipping out of their chairs and a folder of patient information on falls, such as how to get up from a fall at home. We also use bed and chair alarms, although they're not part of the kit.

By incorporating several preventive methods, we've decreased the number of falls dramatically.

-COURTNEY LUSK, CNA, NURSING STUDENT

Michigan Center, Mich.