Making time for nurses to reduce patient falls.

Patient falls in hospitals are a serious problem and can cause long delays in their recovery. One-to-one nursing reduces the number of serious falls that occur, but nursing staff are often busy with routine clerical duties and do not have time to sit with patients constantly. Electronic health records make these clerical duties quicker to complete, giving nurses more time to spend with patients and reducing the likelihood of serious falls occurring. This article describes the steps taken by The Walton Centre to reduce falls and provides an evaluation of the programme.