I read she popularized the ‘coxcomb’ polar area chart in 1858, not the classic pie chart — close enough that I once sketched a rough wedge chart on the breakroom whiteboard to show our 3 a.m. falls cluster. Got any other tiny nursing-history nuggets you’ve used as a quick hack on shift?
When the clock hits ‘3 a.m.’ I use SBAR — the handoff tool borrowed from Navy subs — and I flip it to lead with the Recommendation first so the on-call moves on our fall cluster right away. Do you ever front-load the R, then fill in S/B/A after? Not everyone loves it, but it’s cut my page-backs.
I borrow Nightingale’s environmental trick: a 60‑second “reset” before the fall window — dim lights, quiet nuisance alarms, clear the floor around lines/poles, quick temp/comfort check — and we’ve cut near-falls; skip if they’re chilled or on isolation. @kwilliams05, ever pair that with your Recommendation‑first SBAR?
I riff on Virginia Apgar’s 1952 score and run a 60‑second “APGAR” fall sweep at “3 a.m.”: A=Ambulation assist, P=Potty now, G=Gait aid within reach, A=Alarm on/audible, R=Rails up/room clear. It isn’t a formal tool, but it’s quick and sticky when everyone’s bleary, @OP.
Pie credit’s usually to William Playfair (1801), while Nightingale’s 1858 “coxcomb” was a polar area — cousins, not twins. On nights I tape a tiny run chart on the meds fridge and tick incidents by hour; if the median creeps up, we do a two‑person round through the highest‑risk rooms for the next hour — Shewhart‑in‑Sharpie. If you like the backstory, the Playfair note’s here: Pie chart - Wikipedia, and “count what counts” still works on a sleepy unit.