title: US and Dutch nurse experiences with fall prevention technology within nursing home environment and workflow: A qualitative study.
abstract: Falls remain a major geriatric problem, and the search for new solutions continues. We investigated how existing fall prevention technology was experienced within nursing home nurses' environment and workflow. Our NIH-funded study in an American nursing home was followed by a cultural learning exchange with a Dutch nursing home. We constructed two case reports from interview and observational data and compared the magnitude of falls, safety cultures, and technology characteristics and effectiveness. Falls were a high-magnitude problem at the US site, with a collectively vigilant safety culture attending to non-directional audible alarms; falls were a low-magnitude problem at the NL site which employed customizable, infrared sensors that directed text alerts to assigned staff members' mobile devices in patient-centered care culture. Across cases, 1) a coordinated communication system was essential in facilitating effective fall prevention alert response, and 2) nursing home safety culture is tightly associated with the chosen technological system.
authors.affiliation: Emory University, Department of Medicine, Division of General Medicine and Geriatrics, USA. Electronic address: avanden@emory.edu.
authors.forename: Ann E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Vandenberg
authors.affiliation: University of Twente, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics, and Computer Science EMCS, Biomedical Signals and Systems, Netherlands.
authors.forename: Bert-Jan
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: van Beijnum
authors.affiliation: University of Twente, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics, and Computer Science EMCS, Biomedical Signals and Systems, Netherlands.
authors.forename: Vera G P
authors.initials: VGP
authors.lastname: Overdevest
authors.affiliation: Hunter College of CUNY, Hunter-Bellevue School of Nursing, USA.
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Capezuti
authors.affiliation: Emory University, Department of Medicine, Division of General Medicine and Geriatrics, USA; Birmingham/Atlanta VA Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center, USA.
authors.forename: Theodore M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Johnson
mesh_terms: D000058:Accidental Falls / Q000517:prevention & control*; D020811:Biomedical Technology / Q000295:instrumentation*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009426:Netherlands; D009735:Nursing Homes; D019982:Organizational Case Studies; D036301:Qualitative Research; D017751:Safety Management; D014481:United States; D057188:Workflow
keywords: Alarm fatigue; Bed exit alarms; Fall prevention; Long-term care; Monitoring technology; Position monitors; Pressure sensor mats