Retrospective analysis and nursing management of inpatient falls: Case series

Falls are common adverse events: approximately 1 million falls occur in hospitals annually, accounting for approximately 70% of inpatient accidents.

This study aimed to identify the characteristics of adverse fall events in our hospital from January 2019 to October 2021; it also had the goal of formulating nursing management countermeasures to reduce the occurrence of falls in our hospital. Identify the impact of formulated fall prevention and Group standards.

Details of falls were obtained from the nursing adverse event reporting system of the Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University from January 2019 to December 2020. We analyzed 76 falls reported to the nursing department using a nonpunitive reporting system. We established fall prevention and Group standards. And compared with falls from March to October 2021.

In the study period, before the intervention, 76 falls occurred in the hospital: 18 in the day shift and 58 in the night shift. Among the falls, 32 (42.1%) occurred at the bedside; that figure was followed by 26 in the toilet (34.2%) and 18 in other places outside the ward (23.7%). The top 3 causes of the falls accounted for 84.2% of the cases: 14 were caused by nurses; 20 were caused by the patients themselves; and 30 cases were caused by concomitant factors. Regarding the consequences of the falls, 18 patients were uninjured, 22 had a mild injury, 12 were moderately injured, and 24 suffered severe injuries. After the intervention, there were fewer falls per patient day and when patients were less likely to be injured in a fall (P < .05).

Enhancing awareness of factors that lead to inpatients falls may reduce the risk of concomitant injuries. Group standards should be established to prevent falls. In accordance with standards, it is necessary to consider health education and process supervision; it is also important to encourage inpatients to participate in safety management and to effectively ensure the safety of patients.