Patient Engagement in Hospital Fall Prevention

Injurious falls are the most prevalent in-hospital adverse event, and hospitalized patients are at a greater risk of falling than the general population. Patient engagement in hospital fall prevention could be a possible approach to reducing falls and fall-related injuries. To engage patients, bedside nursing staff must first understand the concept of patient centeredness and then incorporate patient centeredness in clinical practice. Clinicians should move from being experts to being enablers. To conceptualize the knowledge gaps identified, a conceptual model was developed to guide future research and quality improvement efforts in hospital settings. This model could be used as a guide to advance nursing leadership in hospital fall prevention via promoting patient engagement (e.g., developing patient-centered fall prevention interventions with patients' input).