Interprofessional approach to fall prevention in hospital care.

OBJECTIVE: To understand the perception and experience of health professionals regarding fall prevention practices in hospital inpatient units. METHOD: This is a qualitative exploratory and descriptive case study based on the Canadian framework of interprofessional competences. Data was collected from two focus groups, with different health professionals in each group, and thematic content analysis was used. RESULTS: Five categories were drawn up which showed intense convergence between the participants of the two focus groups, within the context of fall prevention practices: communication between professionals and patients/carers for fall prevention, interprofessional communication for fall prevention, clarification of roles for fall prevention, health education about risk and fall prevention and continuing education for fall prevention. CONCLUSION: Teamwork and collaborative practice are important for achieving good results in the prevention of falls in hospital care, but for this to happen, health professionals need to acquire the necessary competences for collaborative action.

Person-centered care approach to prevention and management of falls among adults and aged in a Brazilian hospital: a best practice implementation project.

OBJECTIVES: The objective is to assess compliance with evidence-based criteria regarding a person-centered care approach to the prevention and management of falls among adults and the elderly in a Brazilian private hospital. METHODS: This project used the JBI audit and feedback method to implement evidence into practice. The JBI Practical Application of Clinical Evidence System and Getting Research into Practice audit tools have been used to promote changes in oncology and medical-surgical wards. The implementation protocol was designed based on the primary barriers and facilitators identified in the baseline audit, along with a training program and changes in the electronic medical records. Nursing documentation available in medical records, interviews with nurses who worked in oncology and medical-surgical wards, and interviews with patients admitted in oncology and medical-surgical wards were used to assess the baseline and follow-up audit compliance rates. RESULTS: The baseline and follow-up audits showed improvement for criteria 3 and 9 (100%) and criteria 6 and 7 (97%), respectively. The compliance for criteria 4 (97.6%), 5 (76.7%), and 8 (18%) showed slight variations from baseline and follow-up audits. Compliance for criteria 1 (76.9%) and 2 (63.3%) decreased in the follow-up audit. CONCLUSION: These findings support that baseline, and follow-up audits allied to a fall training program and changes in the electronic nursing records increase the compliance rates related to evidence-based practice regarding a person-centered care approach to preventing and managing falls. We will implement new strategies according to the best practices to achieve better outcomes.