Nurses' Perceptions of Recommended Fall Prevention Strategies: A Rapid Review.

BACKGROUND:Limited studies have synthesized evidence on nurses' perceptions of recommended fall prevention strategies and potential differences between those and the practiced strategies. PURPOSE:To synthesize evidence about nurses' perceptions of recommended fall prevention strategies for hospitalized adults. METHODS:Using PubMed, 50 records underwent abstract and full-text screening, and 10 studies were retained. Narrative synthesis was conducted to identify common themes across studies. Quality assessment was not performed. RESULTS:Nurses are aware of effective fall prevention strategies but identified unit-level barriers and facilitators to implementing these in their practice. Unit culture and policies, educational offerings, nursing interventions, and style of communication and collaboration were seen to influence fall prevention. CONCLUSIONS:Nurses recognize falls as a multifactorial issue suggesting that prevention efforts be tailored to the unit and involve all employees. We recommend that future research emphasize identifying and understanding the combination of factors that produce successful unit-level fall prevention strategies.