Hospitals should include a tool similar to the PAAT in guidelines related to provision of constant observation or use of sitters. Further investigations of the optimum combination of staffing patterns and infrastructure are needed to promote safer hospital stays.

Encouraging call light use is a key to reducing injurious fall rates. Unit managers should routinely monitor the trend of the call light use rate and ensure that the call light use rate is maintained at least above the mean rate.

This descriptive, cross-sectional survey study illustrates the roles for and motives of being a family visitor to accompany a hospitalized loved one during hospitalization in a Taiwanese hospital. Family visitors were approached by research assistants on a random basis in acute inpatient units. Among the 1,034 participants, 91% were relatives. About 80.0% of them were present to attend to the patient's physical care, 61.0% to offer psychological support, and 63.5% to express their desire to learn more about the patient's medical condition and illness in time. Their primary motives included fulfilling one of their responsibilities, coming to help voluntarily, showing filial piety for their parent, and being afraid that the patient could not obtain appropriate care. The family involvement culture in Taiwan may have placed pressure on family members to be present at the bedside and contributed to families' psychological and financial burden.

Nursing administrators should emphasize increasing staff's call light responsiveness.

The aim of this exploratory study was to understand the opinions and observations of recently discharged senior patients concerning the fall-prevention education received during their most recent hospitalization. The focus was on the extrinsic risk factors for falls. This project was conducted in a Michigan home care agency. Participants had to be Medicare home care patients, discharged from the affiliated hospital within 30 days, 65 years or older, and alert. Practical implications that might lead to fewer falls in the future as the goal of this research are discussed.