Geriatric Hospital Nurses' Knowledge, Attitude toward Falls, and Fall Prevention Activities

Purpose: Elders in hospital are at risk for falls. Thus, there is a need to identify geriatric hospital nurses' knowledge and attitude toward falls, and fall prevention activities, and factors which influence fall prevention activities. Methods: Participants were 142 nurses from geriatric hospitals with more than 150 sick beds located in B city. Data were collected during August and September, 2012. The self-report questionnaires included questions on knowledge and attitude toward falls, and fall prevention activities. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, Pearson correlation coefficients, and multiple regression analysis with SPSS/WIN 21.0. Results: Scores for knowledge, attitude and fall prevention activities were relatively high. In the relationships between knowledge, attitudes and fall prevention activities, knowledge about falls had no correlation with attitude or prevention activities, but a correlation was found between attitude and fall prevention activities. Factors influencing fall prevention activities were attitude toward falls (=.34, p<.001), age (=.21, p=.008) and having received fall prevention education (=.15, p=.044). Conclusion: Findings indicate that there is a need to implement education programs to improve nurses' attitude toward falls and fall prevention, and provide opportunities for frequent fall prevention training and education to increase the practice of fall prevention activities.