Opinions of Nurses About the Evaluation of Risk of Falling Among Inpatients.

Background: Patient falls and fall-related injuries are an important problem for patients, relatives, caregivers, and the health system at large.

Aims: This study aims to identify opinions of nurses about the risk of falling among patients staying in hospitals.

Method: This study uses a qualitative descriptive design and employs a semistructured interview method to identify the opinions and experiences of nurses about patient falls. This study evaluated the opinions of a total of 12 staff nurses.

Findings: It was found that nurses consider patients in the postoperative period to be most prone to falls. They think that most falls take place during transfers and that the medical diagnosis of the patient plays a crucial role in fall incidents. The most important problem associated with patient falls was symptoms of traumatic brain injury. According to the participating nurses, the risk of fall for every patient should be evaluated upon admission. Measures that the nurses take against patient falls include raising the bed's side rails and securing the bed brakes.

Conclusions: The findings of this research suggest that in-service training programs about the evaluation of the risk of falling should be organized for nurses. Guidelines should be developed for patients with different levels of risk of falling. It is suggested that nurses should be in charge of training patients who are conscious, their relatives, and caregiver personnel.

Clinical Relevance: The training of nurses and caregivers helps to prevent the falls of inpatients.