Nurses’ Knowledge, Attitude and Practices on Fall Prevention in King Abdul Aziz Hospital, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Introduction: Fall is the major public health problem, and it is the second leading cause of death due to unintentionally injury. About 424,000 fall happen every year and 250,000 fall are from the hospital. It is estimated that 30% of falls in hospitals are result in severe injury. Increased awareness and availability of fall prevention (FP) services might help to reduce the adverse effects of falls. The aim of this study was to evaluate the Knowledge, Attitude and Practices (KAP) on FP among nurses at King Abdulaziz Hospital-Ministry of National Guard-Al Hasa (KAH; MNG-HA). Methods: Quantitative-Descriptive research design was adopted. The random sampling method was used to select the 220 registered nurses from adult care ward of KAH. Data was collected using a validated questionnaire (section1 sociodemographic, section 2-knowledge on fall prevention, section 3-attitude on fall prevention, section 4-practices on fall prevention). Informed concerns were taken from sample and Ethical clearance was obtained from concern authority. Results: Out of 220 sample, 197 (89.5%) were responded and more than half of them were Philippine (59%) national. Among them, 96% were females, 55% had <5 year experience, 2.5% had worked >10 years. The average FP-related Knowledge level among participants was 16.26 ± 1.2 (Range: 0 to 20). A minority were aware of relationship between falls and feet-numbness and depression (13.2% and 28.9%, respectively). The average score of the participants' attitude toward FP was 2.14 ± 0.75 (5 points in-total). In 12 out of 20 (12/20) items, the average score was <2. The Practices score, on the other hand, averaged 4.26 out of 5 (± 0.93). The items with highest and lowest average values were "falls with no obvious harm are always reported" (4.94 ± 0.27) and "participation in making FP policies" (3.02 ± 1.75), respectively. The statistically significant association was found between knowledge of nurses and nationality, work experience; association between attitude and age, undergraduate training; association between practice and age, educational background. Good knowledge did not correlate to positive attitude. Conclusion: Falls are a genuine safety concern. The study showed overall good knowledge and practices of fall prevention at KAH, however there is a concern that the significance and potential impact of falls on patients' outcomes are underestimated. Further, continuous training should be offered to highlight various falls risk factors and improve attitudes towards falls.

Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices of Nurses toward Risk Factors and Prevention of Falls in Older Adult Patients in a Large-Sized Tertiary Care Setting

“…Our results are consistent with the findings reported by Ganabathi and Mariappan, who found similar practices in the western region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia [13]. However, inconsistency prevails from other studies that demonstrated poor practices.…”

“…Fatal and non-fatal injuries increase after a fall incident. Although 70% of falls result in minor and non-fatal injuries, deaths caused by fall incidents among senior people are still a major concern [13]. In countries like the United States, 9.9 million fall-related injuries occur each year, of which 32% are older adults with a higher mortality rate of 40% [14].…”

“…The study adopted a valid and reliable questionnaire to elicit the participants' data and responses regarding knowledge, attitudes, and practices related to fall prevention among the older hospitalized patients. The questionnaire was adapted from a previous study by Ganabathi and Umapathi that was conducted in the western part of Saudi Arabia [13]. The questionnaire consisted of four major sections that assessed (i) sociodemographic content, (ii) knowledge, (iii) attitude, and (iv) practices of the nurses.…”

Relationship Between Nurses' Practices Regarding Fall Prevention among Elderly Women and Their personal Characteristics

“…It is also recommended that pаtients аt high risk of fаll should be under the cаre of experienced nurse who hаve upgrаded skills in fаll prevention. The results of a study by Ganabathi, et al, regarding "Nurses' knowledge, attitude and practices on fall prevention in King Abdul Aziz Hospital, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia" support this conclusion, demonstrating that the majority of the nurses in the study have good practices, with a small percentage having poor practices [33]. On other hand, this finding disagreed with study by Negаsh, who conducted study entitled "Assessment of selfreported practice of nurses towards fall prevention and its associated factors in an Ethiopian hospital" When it comes to fall prevention measures overall for older female patients, less than two thirds of the nurses under study performed poorly [34].…”

Nurses in the Loop of Fall Prevention

“…An estimated 684,000 fatal falls occur each year, while approximately 37.3 million are serious enough to require medical attention (WHO, 2021). This can lead to an increased economic burden from medical costs and the need for social care (Ganabathi, Mariappan & Mustafa, 2017;Najafpour et al, 2019). In addition, the major public health concern is that 4% of fall-related injuries result in serious patient outcomes, such as excessive bleeding, subdural hematoma, and death (WHO, 2021).…”