Inpatient fall prevention from the patient's perspective: A qualitative study.

Area of Science:

• Healthcare quality improvement
• Patient safety research
• Qualitative health research

Background:

• Falls are a common adverse event in hospitals, causing patient harm and increasing costs.
• Limited research exists on patient perspectives regarding fall risk and prevention strategies.
• Understanding patient views is essential for developing effective fall prevention programs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore and describe the patient's perspective on fall prevention within an acute care setting.
• To inform the design of patient-centered fall prevention strategies.
• To identify patient beliefs and barriers related to fall prevention.

Main Methods:

• Conducted semi-structured interviews with twelve patients at an academic healthcare center.
• Employed qualitative analysis to identify key themes from patient narratives.
• Focused on understanding patient self-perception, views on interventions, and participation barriers.

Main Results:

• Identified three major themes: "How I see myself" (awareness, acceptance, emotions, personal plan), "How I see the interventions" (alarms, equipment usefulness), and "How I see us" (barriers to participation).
• Patients' beliefs about their own fall risk significantly influence their engagement with prevention strategies.
• Barriers to participating in fall prevention plans were identified from the patient's viewpoint.

Conclusions:

• Current fall prevention programs are often clinician-led, necessitating a shift towards patient-centered approaches.
• Nurses building relationships with patients can enhance understanding and tailor interventions to individual needs.
• Patient-centered strategies may reduce over-reliance on bed alarms and address modifiable risk factors more effectively.