Tune in to Prevent Falls
New BWH-Produced Video Educates Patients, Families
Celebrating the successful completion of the video were, back from left, Robert Benvenuti, Susan McDonald, Andrea Galante, Tamara Devlin, Colleen Zidik and Carolyn Hayes, and, seated from left, Escel Stanghellini, Cynthia Jodoin, Ann Collins and Eileen Molina.
Robert Benvenuti, BSN, RN, OCN, never expected to be commended for his acting abilities. But the Hematology/Oncology BMT nurse collected four awards—including best actor and most dramatic faller—for his performance in a new patient education video.
The Hematology/Oncology BMT team rolled out the red carpet to honor Benvenuti, his BWH co-stars and the production crew of "Falls Prevention: Educating Patients and Families," a 25-minute video that teaches patients how to prevent falls while in the hospital.
"This video is unique in that it is filmed from the patient's perspective," said Escel Stanghellini, MSN, RN, quality program manager for Hematology/Oncology BMT, who directed and produced the video with nursing coordinator Colleen Zidik, BSN, MBA, RN. "We addressed the most common situations in which patients fall in the hospital and gathered input from patients and staff."
One patient who had fallen while in the hospital makes an appearance in the video with a message for viewers: trust the judgment of your care providers with regard to safety.
That simple message goes a long way in educating patients, said Carolyn Hayes, PhD, RN, CNAA, director of Oncology Nursing and Clinical Services at BWH and director of the Center for Patients and Families at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
"Any time you involve patients, you really improve the quality of your product," Hayes said at the awards ceremony. "You've had significant input to this video, and you've made a great contribution to patient safety."
The team presented the video project in April at the 32nd Annual Oncology Nursing Society Congress in Las Vegas, and an abstract detailing the project was published in the March 2007 issue of Oncology Nursing Forum.
Watch the Video on CCTV
Turn on the patient's bedside TV and select channel 39 or 40. Use the bedside phone to call ext. 2-7295, and press 1 on the telephone keypad to select films by code. Press 484# for "Falls Prevention" and press 1 to confirm. Tune the TV to the station provided in the message.