The journal ‘Why Do Patients in Acute Care Hospitals Fall?’ Can Falls Be Prevented?’ by Dykes, Carroll, Hurley, Benoit, and Middleton (2009) is based on a true-experimental based study that involved obtaining views from nurses and their assistants on why patients admitted for acute care in hospitals fall. The research study involved a quantitative survey-based design that involved collecting data from a selected group of people. The study was carried out in four acute hospitals, two suburban teaching hospitals, and two urban teaching hospitals, all of which had similar hospital systems. Additionally, the study required all locations to be approved through an institutional review board. The sampling method incorporated the division of the nurses into eight focus groups with each group containing three to ten nurses and four to six nursing assistants. The potential participants were selected through an identification process by their respective nursing leaders, recruited through being issued with personal invitation, and provided to sign a consent form. The data was collected through an interview process of each of the participants in the eight focus groups that incorporated the use of pre-structured/planned questions and clarification requests. The variables collected included:
- How accurate information regarding the risk of falling may be obtained among others
- How materials for preventing falls can be accessed
- How to assess a patient’s risk for falling and the ability to prevent future falls
- How such risks can be effectively communicated to the patients, their visitors, and other health care workers
- Methods of arriving at interventions, including how such interventions can be communicated to those involved.
According to the participants, an effective intervention will include the pinning of pictograms that educate health officials about how to prevent patients from falling off their beds (Dykes et al., 2009).
Reference List
Dykes, P., Carroll, D., Hurley, A., Benoit, A., & Middleton, B. (2009). Why Do Patients In Acute Care Hospitals Fall? Can Falls Be Prevented? Journal of Nursing Administration, 39(6), 299-304.