Learning to assess the fall risk in clinical nursing education: an interpretative study

Falls are a complex problem for the health and quality of life of older persons. Risk assessment is important for identifying people at risk and planning preventive measures. Few studies have focused on how health professionals learn to assess this risk.

The aim of this study was to explore how nursing undergraduate students learn to assess fall risk in older adults/people during their hospital-based clinical practice.

This qualitative study was conducted within an interpretive paradigm. The focus group was selected as the method to address the research question: How do nursing students learn to assess of fall risk in the older population during clinical practice? The participants were students enrolled in a Bachelor of Nursing program. To support data organization and enhance analytic rigor, qualitative data analysis software (WebQDA®) was employed.

Fifteen students participated in two focus groups. The analysis identified three main categories: (i) risk factors assessed; (ii) risk assessment; and (iii) learning to manage fall risk in clinical practice. Students reported that nursing supervisors primarily emphasized physical factors, mobility, and cognitive status. The findings also highlighted a gap between the assessment and the implementation of individualized interventions, as well as the difficulty in converting records into preventive actions and risk management.

Nursing students learn to assess fall risk primarily through observation of clinical practices and the influence of supervisors, although they do not always understand the instrumental basis or the correlation between risk and intervention. The results indicate the need to strengthen the training of professionals and students.