Research Critique 2 Patient Falls
Research Critique, Part 2
Jennifer Bullard
Grand Canyon University
Introduction to Nursing Research
NRS433
Martha Schmidt
October 07, 2012
Research Critique, Part 2
The purpose of this paper is to critique an article on the circumstances and
characteristics of why patients fall in the hospital setting. The article being critiqued
defines a fall as an unexpected drop from a sitting, standing, and lying position,
which include an assisted fall (where someone helps guide them to the floor),
slipping from a chair to the floor, and when a patient is found on the floor (Hitcho et
al., 2008). This critique will discuss data collection, data management, analysis, and
interpretation of the findings.
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There was some researcher bias because some of the information that was collected
from different sources conflicted, and the person who collected the data best
judgment was used. Many patients recall of the circumstances surrounding their fall
was not dependable.
The study s findings revealed that of the 183 patients that fell while hospitalized, the
average age was 63.4 with the ages ranging from 17 to 96. It also discovered that
many of the falls were unassisted, occurred in the evenings and in the patient s
hospital room, and had fallen during ambulation. It was also discovered that falls
related to elimination increased the risks for injury. Out of the medical, cardiology,
neurology, surgical, oncology, orthopedic, and women/infant units that were included
in the study, the medical and neurology units had the highest incidence of falls. These
units also had the highest patient to nurse ratios (Hitcho et al., 2008). These findings
also determined that falls occurred when patients were unassisted, ambulating, and
were related to elimination needs. Because of these findings, prevention measures
should focus on increasing staff assistance while patients are ambulating and
supervised/assisted toileting schedules need to be provided. The findings can be
applied to all areas of nursing. Despite prevention efforts, threats to reimbursement,
and good intentions, falls still remain a serious and costly