Nursing home staff perception of a falls management intervention.

BACKGROUND Many nursing home fall injuries are believed to be preventable. Little is known about the fall prevention activities nursing homes are using. METHODS We conducted a census of all nursing homes in 6 Wisconsin counties by mailing a needs assessment to administrators and directors of nursing. Later we mailed a report of the results, an information intervention (an annotated list of falls management resources), and a follow-up questionnaire. RESULTS Respondents believed that the most important barriers to better falls management in typical Wisconsin nursing homes were the fall-prone character of the population (80%), followed by the need for staff to communicate changes in a resident's condition better and more quickly (58%). Most felt that the components they needed to improve in their own nursing home were training for new staff (71%) and communicating any immediate care plan changes (65%). Respondents reported getting useful fall prevention information in the last year from in-house physical and occupational therapists (87%) and conferences, workshops, or meetings (82%). They were most interested in receiving new information about how to train their staff to analyze resident fall data and develop prevention plans (76%) and where to find training videos (68%). Forty-four percent reported becoming personally more aware of falls management resources and 31% reported that their nursing home had adopted changes in falls management activities in the last 7 months at least in part as a result of our intervention. CONCLUSION Information dissemination interventions can increase awareness and changes in nursing home falls management activities.