Experiences of nurse managers in preventing and managing inpatient falls: a qualitative descriptive study

Falls are among the most common adverse events in hospitals, causing significant harm to patients and increasing healthcare costs. In 2023, over 160 000 falls were reported in China, with 62.5% of hospitalised patients suffering fall-related injuries. Falls not only prolong hospital stays but also negatively impact nursing quality and healthcare system efficiency.

This study explored the lived experiences of nurse managers in preventing and managing inpatient falls in hospital settings and examined the contextual and managerial factors influencing fall prevention practices.

We conducted a qualitative study using a phenomenological approach to explore the lived experiences of nurse managers in managing inpatient falls. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 16 participants from a tertiary hospital in Shanghai. While data collection followed phenomenological principles to elicit rich experiential narratives, thematic analysis was guided by grounded theory coding techniques to inductively identify and categorise themes. NVivo 12 software was used for data management.

Six interrelated themes emerged, reflecting nurse managers' experiences across the stages of patient admission, hospitalisation and discharge. At admission, participants emphasised the limitations of existing fall risk assessment tools and the need for multidisciplinary collaboration and intelligent technologies to achieve precise stratification. During hospitalisation, they described ongoing challenges in conducting dynamic reassessments, implementing personalised interventions, managing limited staffing and environmental constraints and promoting patient compliance through effective education. In the discharge phase, nurse managers reflected on the emotional and ethical tensions between ensuring patient safety and respecting autonomy, underscoring the importance of cultivating a strong safety culture and reinforcing nurses' sense of responsibility. Collectively, these findings reveal that fall prevention is not merely a procedural task but a dynamic, interpretive process shaped by professional accountability, emotional strain and systemic limitations.

Nurse managers' experiences reflect the complex interplay between managerial responsibility, cultural caregiving norms and organisational limitations in fall prevention. Strengthening multidisciplinary collaboration, integrating intelligent technologies and promoting a proactive safety culture are crucial for improving fall management. Policymakers should also consider China's evolving caregiver-free ward initiatives to transition towards more nurse-led and patient-centred safety systems. Future research should further explore patient and family perspectives and evaluate strategies for sustainable cultural and structural change in fall prevention.