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Morse Fall Scale Calculator

Score inpatient fall risk on the Morse Fall Scale from six factors like fall history and gait, and map the total to low, moderate, or high risk.

Morse Fall Scale Calculator

Did the patient fall during this admission or in the previous 3 months?

More than one active medical diagnosis listed on the chart.

Score furniture when the patient walks while steadying against walls or furniture.

An IV line, infusion, or capped IV access in place.

Weak: short steps, may shuffle, uses furniture lightly. Impaired: needs assistance, keeps head down, poor balance.

Compare what the patient says about their own mobility to the charted order. Score 15 when they overestimate or forget limits.

Morse Fall Scale total

40/ 125

Moderate risk(band 25 to 44)

Points by item

Fall history

0 pts

Secondary dx

15 pts

Ambulatory aid

15 pts

IV / lock

0 pts

Gait

10 pts

Mental status

0 pts

Risk bands

Low risk

0 to 24

Moderate risk

25 to 44

High risk

45 to 125

Suggested actions

Implement standard fall-prevention interventions: review the care plan, assist with transfers and toileting, consider scheduled rounding, and flag the patient as a fall risk per your facility protocol.

Medical disclaimer

This tool is for educational use only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. The Morse Fall Scale is one input into fall-risk assessment and never replaces clinical judgment, the patient's full history, or your facility's fall-prevention protocol. Many settings calibrate their own cut score, so confirm the thresholds your unit uses.

Frequently Asked Questions about the Morse Fall Scale Calculator

What is the Morse Fall Scale?
The Morse Fall Scale (MFS) is a quick bedside tool nurses use to rate how likely an adult inpatient is to fall. You score six items (history of falling, secondary diagnosis, ambulatory aid, IV or heparin lock, gait, and mental status) and add them up. The total runs from 0 to 125 and sorts patients into low, moderate, or high risk so the care team can match precautions to need.
How is the Morse Fall Scale scored?
Each item has fixed point values: history of falling (no 0, yes 25), secondary diagnosis (no 0, yes 15), ambulatory aid (none, bed rest, or nurse assist 0, crutches/cane/walker 15, steadying on furniture 30), IV or saline/heparin lock (no 0, yes 20), gait (normal or immobile 0, weak 10, impaired 20), and mental status (oriented to own ability 0, overestimates or forgets limits 15). The score is just the sum of the six items, so the maximum is 125.
What do low, moderate, and high risk mean?
This calculator uses the common three-tier reading: 0 to 24 is low risk, 25 to 44 is moderate risk, and 45 and above is high risk. The original 1989 Morse paper proposed 0 to 24, 25 to 50, and 51 and above instead, and it stresses that each facility should validate and set its own cut score for its patients. Confirm the thresholds your unit uses, because the score only guides care, it does not set it.
What counts as a secondary diagnosis or an ambulatory aid?
A secondary diagnosis scores 15 when the patient has more than one active medical diagnosis on the chart. For ambulatory aid, score 0 if the patient walks without help or is on bed rest, 15 for crutches, a cane, or a walker, and 30 when the patient walks while clutching walls or furniture for support. If the patient uses an aid and also touches furniture, score the furniture value, since it signals the greater risk.
How often should fall risk be reassessed?
Reassess on admission and then per your facility schedule, plus any time the patient's condition changes. Common triggers are after a fall, after a transfer to a new unit, after surgery or sedation, when a new high-risk medication starts, and at a change in mental status or mobility. Fall risk is dynamic, so a single score is a snapshot, not a fixed label.
Is this calculator medical advice?
No. This tool is for education and general information only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. The Morse Fall Scale is one input into fall-risk assessment and does not replace clinical judgment, the full patient history, or your facility's fall-prevention protocol. Always rely on a qualified clinician for care decisions.

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