Meanings of Falls and Prevention of Falls According to Rehabilitation Nurses: A Qualitative Descriptive Study.
OBJECTIVE
Guided by Friedemann's theoretical framework, this survey explored the meaning of a fall of an institutionalized older adult or fall prevention to rehabilitation registered nurses and whether the experience changed the nurse's practice.


METHODS
Qualitative, descriptive survey.


METHODS
A convenience sample of 742 rehabilitation nurses was asked to describe these experiences and the impact on their practice.


RESULTS
Themes discovered related to the meaning of a fall include negative feelings (incongruence) and positive feelings (congruence). Themes related to the meaning of preventing a fall include positive feelings (congruence). Practice change themes emerged from both the experience of a fall and fall prevention. Practice change themes were drawn to Friedemann's (1995) process dimensions.


CONCLUSIONS
Nurses' experiences and meanings of falls uncovered negative and positive feelings about these falls. New findings of this study were the positive feelings expressed by nurses, when there was no injury or when a fall was prevented.
St. Rita's Medical Center - Mercy Health, Lima, OH, USA.
Amy
A
Bok
University of Toledo, Toledo, OH, USA.
Linda L
LL
Pierce
University of Toledo, Toledo, OH, USA.
Cheryl
C
Gies
University of Toledo, Toledo, OH, USA.
Victoria
V
Steiner
D000058:Accidental Falls / Q000517:prevention & control*; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D002983:Clinical Competence; D005260:Female; D006167:Guilt; D006801:Humans; D008281:Maine; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital / Q000523:psychology*; D010414:Pennsylvania; D036301:Qualitative Research; D019145:Rehabilitation Nursing / Q000379:methods*; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014903:West Virginia; D032447:Wisteria
Nurses; falls; qualitative; research