title: Challenges in defining and categorizing falls on diverse unit types: lessons from expansion of the NDNQI Falls Indicator.
abstract: In 2012, the National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators launched a project to expand its falls indicator for use on pediatric, neonatal, and psychiatric units. We discuss challenges encountered, argue that schemes for categorizing falls by cause or supposed preventability are not suitable for large-scale efforts to track and prevent falls, express concern about the growing burden of collecting increasingly granular quality data, and discuss limitations of total and injurious fall rates as quality measures.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biostatistics (Dr Staggs) and School of Nursing (Drs Staggs and Dunton and Ms Davidson and Mr Crosser), University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City.
authors.forename: Vincent S
authors.initials: VS
authors.lastname: Staggs
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Davidson
authors.forename: Nancy
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Dunton
authors.forename: Brandon
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Crosser
mesh_terms: D000058:Accidental Falls / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016208:Databases, Factual; D006757:Hospital Units; D006801:Humans; D019984:Quality Indicators, Health Care / Q000592:standards*; D014481:United States