Question

What situations could an older adult encounter during an acute hospitalization that could increase the risk of sustaining a fracture?

Answer 1

Hospitals are commonly thought of as the safest place to be for sick people.

Patients have around-the-clock access to skilled care teams. Their vital signs are continuously monitored. A physician stops by every morning to check on them.

While it all sounds safe, a hospital can be a very dangerous place to be. Here are four frightening risks hospitals pose, along with their causes and some easy-to-implement solutions that could save hundreds of thousands of lives each year:

Psychological Difficulties

Hospitals are intended to maximize the health of sick people. But the ways that hospitals are designed can severely disorient elderly patients.

Beaming florescent lights, beeping machines and loud hallway conversations disrupt natural sleep patterns. Patients are routinely awakened at night for status checks and early in the morning for blood draws. Food is withheld while doctors await tests – and is often unappealing whenever it’s served.

Physical Difficulties

The risk of physical harm runs through even the safest hospitals as patients are given powerful narcotics or sedatives, which cause confusion and make it difficult for them to walk safely. One study found patients who fell during their hospital stay were nearly three times more likely to have received a sedative.

Meanwhile, individuals on mandated bed rest face the risks of significant muscle weakness, even among the youngest and healthiest patients. Lack of regular physical activity during bed rest increases the risk of bone fractures, stiffened joints and, in some cases, contractures.

Hospitalization Increase The Risk Of Avoidable Conditions

May old age patients facing difficulties of falling on the way to the bathroom, developing a pressure ulcer, or acquiring a systemic infection through an intravenous line and other medical error during hospitalization.

Yet one of the more common medical errors is also one of the most avoidable. Patients who transmit infections to others in a hospital may do so as a result of doctors, nurses and other hospital staff failing to wash their hands.

Hospitalization Result in Problems After Discharge

Many patients suffer ongoing physical and mental ills after discharge with some unable to regain their prior mental acuity or muscle strength.

This is most severe for those who stay in the hospital for prolonged periods, particularly with complex conditions. The elderly are especially at increased risk for falls, may no longer be able to care for their own basic needs and may have difficulty managing the details of their treatment regimen.

When hospital-acquired complications prolong in-patient stays by days or even weeks, patients may owe large amounts of money, experience lost income from missed work and face prolonged disability.