Interprofessional approach to fall prevention in hospital care.
Anna Carolina da Silva Albertini, Marina Peduzzi
PMID 38995076WHAT IT FOUND
Hospital staff described communication with patients and carers, and between professions, as central to fall prevention.
They often saw nursing as mainly responsible, reported role gaps, and said slow, separate medical-record systems reduced bedside time.
Key findings
01Communication with patients and carers was the predominant theme in both focus groups, and was seen as effective when accompanied by active listening, empathy and easy-to-understand language.
02Although participants said fall prevention could be shared, they perceived hospital fall prevention practices as mainly the responsibility of the nursing team.
03Focus group 2 linked difficulty in interprofessional communication to physical distance and two separate electronic medical record systems, which reduced availability at the bedside.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
Single hospital in São Paulo with 512 beds, so the team culture and systems may not match other settings. Only five professionals in focus group 1 and eight in focus group 2. Social worker, physiotherapist and psychologist did not attend focus group 1, so some perspectives were missing from that group. The study reports professionals' perceptions and experiences, not patient falls, observed care or tested interventions. Data collection occurred during the pandemic, and absence of some professionals was attributed to care demands and support needs at that time.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this as evidence that better communication or education prevents falls. It reports perceptions from five professionals in one focus group and eight in another, not patient outcomes, and no intervention was tested.