{"id":9969,"date":"2026-03-31T11:36:21","date_gmt":"2026-03-31T15:36:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/intranet\/?p=9969"},"modified":"2026-03-31T11:39:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T15:39:07","slug":"students-use-innovation-and-teamwork","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/intranet\/2026\/03\/students-use-innovation-and-teamwork\/","title":{"rendered":"Students Use Innovation, Teamwork to Reduce Patient Falls"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"RyanIn hospitals, many patient falls occur when patients attempt to reach for their call bell or move to retrieve it. <\/span><\/p>\n

UNC School of Medicine student teams came together to collaborate on solutions through the Office of Interprofessional Education and Practice\u2019s Design-a-thon at the <\/span>Inpatient Rehabilitation Center<\/a>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFear, disconnection, frustration, anger \u2014 these are the things that patients feel when they can’t find their call bell and can’t ask for help,\u201d said Melissa Hall \u201827, a clinical rehabilitation and mental health counseling student. \u201cAs a team from medicine, biomedical engineering, speech-language pathology and mental health counseling, we set out to come up with a creative solution to help patients feel safe, mentally, physically and emotionally.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Hall and teammates were immersed in a human-centered design process, which is an empathetic and iterative approach to problem-solving. They engaged with physicians, nurses, therapists, biomedical engineers and each other for inspiration, ideas and ways to implement.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cStudents need to understand and think deeply about the problems that we don\u2019t currently have solutions to and feel like they have the skills to go out and find those solutions,\u201d said Ryan Nilsen, deputy director for interprofessional health initiatives. \u201cThe Design-a-thon gives students the opportunity to learn outside of the classroom and tackle real-world challenges together thanks to partners like UNC Health, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, BeAM Makerspace and Devin Hubbard in the Lampe Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Bringing the solution to life\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n

At a cost of $25.42 per room, the winning team\u2019s prototype aims to reduce falls with an easy\u2011to\u2011implement system. The solution consists of a silicone tie, chair holder, cord cover, and glow-in-the-dark call bell cover that:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n