— College of Allied Health Professions — Patient Safety — CAPTURE Falls — Roadmap — Fall Risk Reduction Interventions — Universal Interventions to Reduce Fall Risk for All Patients — Purposeful Hourly Rounding

Purposeful Hourly Rounding

Purposeful hourly rounding involves checking on the patient every hour during the day and every 2 hours overnight. It is intended to proactively address a patient’s needs. A structured approach involves addressing the “4 Ps” during each rounding visit:

Pain (Is it controlled?)
Personal Needs (Does the patient need hydration or nutrition, the restroom, etc.?)
Position (Is the patient comfortable?)
Placement (Are personal items and the call light within reach? Is clutter removed from the area?)

Hourly Rounding Education

Print Resources

Hourly Rounding: Section 3.2.3 How are universal fall precautions performed? in the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Fall Prevention Toolkit describes how purposeful hourly rounding can support the implementation of universal interventions to reduce fall risk.

Hourly Rounding Tools

Hourly Rounding Protocol: Tool 3B Scheduled Rounding Protocol in the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Fall Prevention Toolkit can be used as a checklist to ensure that patient needs are regularly met and other universal interventions are in place as intended.