Introduction
The aim of carrying out the study was to evaluate the risks of falling in hospitalized patients. In addition, the study wanted to describe the risks of falling based on the personal attributes of the individual patients. The research started in Portugal in 2013 and completed in January 2014. Specifically, it was carried out to examine the above phenomenon at the medicine department of the Médio Ave Hospital Centre (CHMA) in Portugal.
At the time of writing the article, Sandra Cruz, Barbara Lamas and Luis Carvalho were working at the Escola Superior de Enfarmagen do Porto while Pedro Barboa was working at the Centro Hospitalar de Sao Joao (Cruz, Carvalho, Lamas & Barbosa, 2014). In addition, the academic qualifications and backgrounds of the researchers provide evidence that they are justified to carry out an empirical study in the nursing field. Sandra Cruz holds both a PhD and a Master’s in administration degrees from different universities in Portugal. Pedro Barbosa is a registered nurse and a holder of a Master’s degree in clinical nursing. Luis Carvalho holds a PhD degree in education sciences from the University of Santiago in Spain while Barbara Lamas has a Master’s degree in clinical supervision nursing from the Nursing School of Porto, Portugal.
Identification of the problem/hypothesis
The study was based on the issue of patient safety, especially the hospitalized individuals. According to the researchers, the risks of patient’s falls is a major health issue in hospitals because it shows the degree of patient care provided at the specific healthcare facility (Hall, Doran & Pink, 2004). In particular, the researchers considered the high probability of falling in the elderly patients. According to Cruz, Carvalho, Lamas & Barbosa (2014), nurses have the responsibility of working with the patients in order to understand the risks of falling and the personal attributes that may contribute to the probability of falling while hospitalized. The study wanted to address the problem of lack of adequate understanding of the aspects that should be included in the clinical supervision model in the field of nursing. These issues are important in promoting safety and quality of the nursing care relayed to the risks of falls among the hospitalized patients.
In addition, the researchers identified the research hypothesis that the study was trying to describe (Cruz, Carvalho, Lamas & Barbosa, 2014). The researchers argued that there was a link between the sex of a patient and the risk of falling (Cruz, Carvalho, Lamas & Barbosa, 2014). The third hypothesis stated that the differences between the conducted evaluation and the documented findings in records during patient admission were significant (Cruz, Carvalho, Lamas & Barbosa, 2014). The fourth hypothesis stated the role and knowledge of nurses in preventing falls and the number of falls recorded in a hospital setting (Cruz, Carvalho, Lamas & Barbosa, 2014).
The nature of the study
The study used a quantitative approach, where statistical inferences played a significant role in testing the hypotheses as well as describing the issue. In addition, the researchers used an exploratory and descriptive study to characterize the risks of falling in hospitalized patients and the knowledge of nurses in preventing and mitigating the risks of falling.
Sample size and the population of the study
The researches gathered a number of patients who had been hospitalized for at least 24 hours with no history of readmissions. Thus, the total study population (N) included 132 persons. The mean age was 72.5 years while the standard deviation was about 13 years. Most of the patients were males (n=79, 59%) while all the rest were identified as females.
Results of the study
Multiple procedures were used for the collection of data, including the application of questionnaires to assess the risk of fall. From these statistics, the researchers found that more than 16% of the patients were not under the risk of falling while about 48% were under “low” risk of falling (Cruz, Carvalho, Lamas & Barbosa, 2014). In addition, about 34% were classified as “under high risk of falling” (Cruz, Carvalho, Lamas & Barbosa, 2014). Therefore, it was concluded that the existence of non-conformities was realized in the implementation of the protocol (Laschinger & Leiter, 2006). The researchers concluded by recommending a number of contributions to the clinical supervision in order to reduce the risks of falling. It was also shown that nurses should play the biggest role in reducing risks of falling among the hospitalized patients (Rubenstein, Josephson & Osterweil, 2006).
Reflection
The article shows that the risk of falling is a major problem in hospitals, despite the fact that the issue seems to be ignored in empirical studies. An in-depth analysis of the study states that the problem should be mitigated, especially because the results of falling are detrimental. The article examines a major health problem, which means that it is relevant to the clinical practice.
References
Cruz, S., Carvalho, L., Lamas, B., & Barbosa, P. (2014). Improving Quality in the Patients‟ Risk of Fall Evaluation through Clinical Supervision. International Journal of Information and Education Technology, 4(6), 526- 530.
Hall, L. M., Doran, D., & Pink, G. H. (2004). Nurse staffing models, nursing hours, and patient safety outcomes. Journal of Nursing Administration, 34(1), 41-45.
Laschinger, H. K. S., & Leiter, M. P. (2006). The impact of nursing work environments on patient safety outcomes: The mediating role of burnout engagement. Journal of Nursing Administration, 36(5), 259-267.
Rubenstein, L. Z., Josephson, K. R., & Osterweil, D. (2006). Falls and fall prevention in the nursing home. Clinics in geriatric medicine, 12(4), 881.
Rubenstein, L. Z., Josephson, K. R., & Robbins, A. S. (1994). Falls in the nursing home. Annals of internal medicine, 121(6), 442-451.