Kathy Helak is the Director of Quality and Performance Outcomes at Inova Fairfax Medical Campus in Falls Church, Virginia. She discusses the significant work Inova’s interdisciplinary teams are doing to prevent hospital falls from occurring – falls that can lead to injury or even death for frail hospitalized patients. The national statistics on falls, especially in patients over the age of 65 are alarming. Inova’s Fall Prevention Program is designed to meet the needs of each patient through assessment of fall risks, innovative technology to prevent falls and injury, strong teamwork and awareness of patients’ fall risks amongst all care providers, and engagement of families in the fall prevention plan for the patient. These strategies have reduced falls by 30% in the last year.
Kathy joined Inova in 2015 with over 15 years of experience as a Quality and Patient Safety Leader. Her passion for improving patient outcomes was launched early in her career as a Critical Care Nurse and later as a Nurse Executive. She completed her Bachelors’ Degree in Nursing from the University of Rochester and her Masters’ in Nursing from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Kathy is also a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives and a Master TeamSTEPPS Trainer.
Show originally aired: June 26th, 2017
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