[Fall incident reports in theory and practice: recommendations for developing of practice-oriented fall incident reports in nursing homes].
Nursing home residents are known to be subject to a special risk for falls and fall-related injuries. The collection and analysis of root-causes and conditions of a fall in fall incident reports represent a vital instrument for secondary prevention and quality management. Preceding falls are proven to be one of the most important risk factors for repeated falls. Therefore it is recommended to report and evaluate the situation, in which the fall happened, in order to develop strategies for preventing repeated falls and for minimising the consequences of a fall. The question arises, how a fall incident report should look like, to meet both the scientific requirements and the expectations of the user in practice. To answer this question, six fall incident reports selected from theoretical and practical sources were described and analysed. After systematic analysis of the related German-language literature and conduction of some partly-structured interviews with different user groups the goals and requirements for fall incident reports were identified. Based on these targets and requirements as well as on the recommendations of national experts and scientific literature, criteria for evaluating fall incident reports were developed. None of the selected reports meets all the criteria. Finally, based on the theoretical and practical recommendations, components for fall incident reports were developed which meet both the criteria found. These components are guidelines for healthcare action based on the care process and, if followed properly, an important tool for fall prevention and for protecting nursing homes against liability claims.
Ebel
Judith
J
judith.ebel@alumni.hu-berlin.de
Lua
Silke
S
Dassen
Theo
T