Study: Assisted fall policies should be developed collaboratively

Health care organizations should develop institutional assisted fall policies collaboratively, considering the lived experiences of staff, a study concludes. Published in the November issue of the American Journal of Nursing, the authors found there is no safe method to physically assist a falling patient without risking staff injury. Official policies and resources for staff education and training on assisted falls may be limited, and staff may erroneously assume they can help to prevent a patient from falling. The researchers interviewed 16 staff members from 13 health care facilities to gain useful information for the development of assisted fall-related strategies and policies. Separately, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality released a data resource on factors related to falls.