US and Dutch nurse experiences with fall prevention technology within nursing home. environment and workflow: A qualitative study

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Ann E. Vandenberg, Emory University; Bert-Jan van Beijnum, University of Twente; Vera G. P. Overdevest, University of Twente; Elizabeth Capezuti, City University of New York; Theodore M Johnson II, Emory University
• Language: English
• Date: 2017-07-01
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Publication Version: Author Accepted Manuscript (After Peer Review)
• Copyright Statement: © 2016 Elsevier Inc.
• License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.gerinurse.2016.11.005
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Geriatric Nursing
• ISSN: 0197-4572
• Volume: 38
• Issue: 4
• Start Page: 276
• End Page: 282
• Grant/Funding Information: This work was supported by the National Institute on Aging (SBIR 1 R43 AG042237-01 to T.W. of CDIC, Inc.).
• Keywords: Life Sciences & Biomedicine; Alarm fatigue; Nursing; INTERVENTION; Bed exit alarms; Monitoring technology; OF-THE-ART; Pressure sensor mats; Position monitors; Geriatrics & Gerontology; Fall prevention; ADULTS; LONG-TERM-CARE; Long-term care; Science & Technology; Gerontology
• Research Categories: Health Sciences, Nursing; Engineering, Biomedical

Abstract

Falls remain a major geriatric problem, and the search for new solutions continues. We investigated how existing fall prevention technology was experienced within nursing home nurses' environment and workflow. Our NIH-funded study in an American nursing home was followed by a cultural learning exchange with a Dutch nursing home. We constructed two case reports from interview and observational data and compared the magnitude of falls, safety cultures, and technology characteristics and effectiveness. Falls were a high-magnitude problem at the US site, with a collectively vigilant safety culture attending to non-directional audible alarms; falls were a low-magnitude problem at the NL site which employed customizable, infrared sensors that directed text alerts to assigned staff members' mobile devices in patient-centered care culture. Across cases, 1) a coordinated communication system was essential in facilitating effective fall prevention alert response, and 2) nursing home safety culture is tightly associated with the chosen technological system.