Morse Fall Scale Calculator
Score the Morse Fall Scale for hospital patients — history of falling, secondary diagnosis, ambulatory aid, IV or heparin lock, gait and mental status — total 0–125 with the fall risk level.
How it works
Morse = history of falling (0/25) + secondary diagnosis (0/15) + ambulatory aid (0/15/30) + IV or heparin lock (0/20) + gait (0/10/20) + mental status (0/15); range 0–125. Commonly used bands: 0–24 low · 25–44 moderate · ≥ 45 high risk.
The Morse Fall Scale (Morse, Morse and Tylko, 1989) is a quick nursing assessment of a hospital patient’s likelihood of falling, built from six items. Morse recommended that each institution set its own cut-points for its patients (as the AHRQ fall-prevention toolkit repeats); 45 is the most widely used threshold for high risk, with 0–24 commonly treated as low and 25–44 as moderate risk. Gait is scored by watching the patient walk, and mental status by asking whether they can walk alone and comparing the answer with the nursing assessment.
Worked example
A patient with two medical diagnoses (15) who uses a walker (15), has an IV line (20), walks with a weak gait (10), has not fallen recently (0) and knows their limitations (0) scores 15 + 15 + 20 + 10 = 60 / 125 — high risk, so high-risk fall-prevention interventions apply.
Sources: AHRQ Fall Prevention Toolkit — Tool 3H: Morse Fall Scale
Frequently asked questions
What Morse score is high fall risk?
A score of 45 or more is the usual high-risk threshold. Some hospitals use 51 or more for high risk and 25–50 for low to moderate risk — follow your facility’s policy.
How is a patient in a wheelchair scored?
Gait is scored 0 for a patient on bed rest or who is immobile (many units also score wheelchair users 0). Ambulatory aid is scored 0 for no aid, bed rest or walking with nurse assistance.
How often is the Morse Fall Scale repeated?
On admission, after a fall, on transfer between units and whenever the patient’s condition changes, plus routinely (often every shift or daily) according to local policy.
Related calculators
Clinical decision tool for education and for use by trained clinicians alongside clinical judgement — not a diagnosis and not a substitute for medical assessment. Scores validated in specific populations may not apply to every patient.