Piloting Inpatient Injury Prevention Rounding to Improve Pediatric Safety Behaviors

Alicia Melven, MPH, CCHW, CPST
Amanda Abramczyk-Thill, MPH, CPST-I, STAC-I

Unintentional injury remains a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in children in Colorado and nationwide. However, most pediatric hospitals lack structured inpatient interventions that provide families with actionable safety behavior changes after a traumatic injury. To reduce reinjury risk and strengthen early prevention education, we piloted a formal injury prevention rounding model designed to standardize education, reinforce safety behaviors, and reduce future injury risk.

Two years of Trauma Registry data at a Pediatric Level 1 Trauma Hospital were evaluated to identify leading mechanisms of injury and determine priority education topics by age group. The Injury Prevention Specialist (IPS) created an inpatient rounding process, including workflows, inclusion and exclusion criteria, and scripted key messages for families.

The IPS rounded on admitted trauma patients after creating a rounding program based on the injury prevention best-practice model. Key elements of this process included creating a standardized rounding workflow and developing patient inclusion and exclusion criteria. Another step in developing this program was drafting scripting for patients and families based on motivational-interview style communication; these scripts included education content as well as how to elicit participation and goal setting. We also worked with our Electronic Health Records (EHR) team to create an injury prevention flowsheet and consult notes for transparency as well as a way to monitor progress.

A final step in the implementation process was designing family-centered educational materials that were available in English and Spanish. These materials were designed to supplement verbal education and summarize key safety messages. We also worked to ensure we had a process for system-wide tracking and review so that evaluation could occur for process improvement and understanding the institutional impact of inpatient rounding.

From November 1, 2025, to April 28, 2026, 105 trauma patients (ages 1 month – 18 years) and their families received injury prevention education in the form of inpatient rounding from the IPS. This education covered 22 different injury prevention topics, with over 300 supplemental educational resources provided in both English Spanish. Topic distribution aligned with leading injury mechanisms in the Trauma Registry, including non-accidental trauma, winter sports, wheeled safety, falls, and motor vehicle collisions. Implementation demonstrated a high feasibility for sustainable implementation as well as organizational support for increased injury prevention inpatient education.

Direct one-on-one education of patients and caregivers is considered best practice for injury prevention and offers the most opportunity for long-term safety behavior change. Thus, offering this model of secondary prevention during hospitalization can seek to prevent high-risk safety behaviors from reoccurring after the patient is discharged. Next steps include evaluating behavior change, assessing reinjury outcomes, and expanding integration throughout the trauma program.

1. Understand the role that inpatient injury prevention plays in promoting safety behaviors for admitted patients and their families.

2. Describe how the Trauma Registry data was used to inform injury prevention inpatient rounding.

3. Discuss best practice for hospital-based injury prevention rounding.