Dumb Dots

It's not a new idea, but it's believed by some that putting an orange dot next to patient's names will prevent falls. This idea is based on the premise that patients fall because nurses are too stupid to know which patients are at a high risk for falls and so need a dot to alert them.

The dots go on the big white board that has all of the patient's names on them. Because we didn't have orange markers, we used red markers to make dots instead. The falls continued.

It was decided that patients were continuing to fall because the dots were red instead of orange, so orange markers were obtained. Next, the patients had orange dots next to their names. The falls continued.

The only conclusion learned from this was that the dots weren't big and bright enough. Stick-on dots were purchased, so there are now big, orange dots next to every patient's name. The falls continue.

Notice that I said that the dots are next to every patient's name? That's because all of the patients in my unit are at high risk for falls. So, what's the point in putting a dot next to each and every name? A dot doesn't mean anything if everyone has them. Besides, we know that the patients are all fall risks.

Patients fall because we can't be everywhere at once. We try, but there are considerably more rooms than nurses. I don't know the answer to preventing falls, we can't tie everyone up or drug them all into submission. We can't afford a sitter in every room. The only thing I do know is that a silly orange dot on the board isn't going to keep people from falling.