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Inpatient fall prevention from the patient's perspective: A qualitative study.
Bethany Radecki1, Staci Reynolds2, Areeba Kara1
1Indiana University Health Methodist Hospital, 1701 North Senate Blvd, Indianapolis, IN 46202, USA.
Applied Nursing Research : ANR
|September 18, 2018
Summary
Understanding patient perspectives on hospital fall prevention is crucial. Shifting to patient-centered strategies can improve safety and reduce reliance on alarms.
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.