Effect of structured nurse-patient conversation on preventing falls among patients in an acute care hospital: A mixed study.
Kathrin Weber, Susanne Knueppel Lauener, Mieke Deschodt and 2 others
PMID 39698139WHAT IT FOUND
Patients' own fall-risk ratings changed little after a nurse-led conversation and leaflet, though they reported high satisfaction and felt involved.
Nurses also liked it, but the ward did not show a fall reduction.
Key findings
01After the nurse-patient conversation, patients reported satisfaction 5.3 ± 1.01 and involvement 5.2 ± 1.1 on a 0 to 6 scale.
02Across five patient fall-risk perception items, only the rating for how likely someone in a similar situation would fall changed, from 3.57 ± 1.65 to 4.10 ± 1.34 (P = 0.007).
03Nurses gave positive post-conversation ratings, including 51 of 56 for conveying information understandably and 52 of 56 for involving patients in decision-making; only 9 nurses completed both surveys, with pre-to-post confidence P values of 0.130 and 0.074.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
The study was small and uncontrolled, with no randomised comparison group, so it cannot show whether the conversation and leaflet caused any change. Patients were limited to those without severe cognitive impairment who could read and speak German well enough for a 20-minute conversation, and all were in one neurological ward, so results may not apply to other wards or patients. Many eligible patients were already enrolled in other trials, which reduced willingness to participate. Nurse participation and survey completion were low, especially only 9 nurses completing both pre and post surveys, limiting confidence in the nurse pre-to-post findings. The patient and nurse questionnaires were investigator-developed and not described as validated outcome measures. Fall rate was not a primary outcome, and the ward fall rate during the study was compared with the previous year rather than with a concurrent control group.
Declared interests
No funding was reported. The authors declared no conflict of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the positive satisfaction and nurse feedback as proof that this conversation prevents falls. The paper states it did not lead to an overall fall reduction in the study ward, and only 9 nurses completed both pre and post surveys.