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Design and Analysis for Fall Detection System Simplification
Published on: April 6, 2020
Patient falls: acute care nurses' experiences.
Kathy L Rush1, Cathy Robey-Williams, Laura Michelle Patton
1Faculty of Health and Social Development, School of Nursing, University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, BC, Canada. kathy.rush@ubc.ca
Journal of Clinical Nursing
|July 24, 2008
Summary
Acute care nurses experience patient falls as a failure in "knowing the patient as safe." This knowledge is crucial for preventing falls, and when it fails, nurses experience significant stress and employ coping mechanisms.
Area of Science:
- Nursing
- Patient Safety
- Qualitative Research
Background:
- Patient falls remain a significant challenge in acute care settings.
- Nurses' perspectives on patient falls are under-explored despite extensive research on fall prevention.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore and describe the experiences of acute care nurses regarding patient falls.
- To understand the strategies nurses use and the impact of falls on their practice.
Main Methods:
- A qualitative descriptive design was employed.
- Focus groups were conducted with nurses across various inpatient acute care settings.
- Thematic analysis was used to analyze transcribed discussions.
Main Results:
- Nurses define their experience with falls through
- knowing the patient as safe
- which involves assessment, monitoring, and communication.
- Failures in this
- knowing
- led to stress and the use of coping strategies.
- Environmental and situational factors influenced the effectiveness of nurses' strategies.
Conclusions:
- The concept of
- knowing the patient as safe
- can balance patient safety and independence.
- Nursing activities in fall prevention need to encompass patient perspectives and systemic factors like staffing and environment.
- A multi-faceted approach, involving individual nurses and institutional support, is essential for effective fall prevention.
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