Fall risk factors and mitigation strategies for hematological malignancy patients: insights from a qualitative study using the reason model.

Abstract

Purpose: Our study aim was to understand the (human and organizational) factors influencing fall risk among people with hematological malignancies using the Reason model as a framework, providing insights that can inform the development of safe and effective fall management strategies.

Methods: Purposive sampling was employed to conduct semi-structured interviews with 13 people with hematological malignancies and 12 nurses from the hematology department of a tertiary grade A hospital in Guangzhou from December 2023 to February 2024. The topic analysis method was utilized to analyze the interview data.

Results: Factors influencing fall risk among people with hematological malignancies were categorized into four themes: (1) precondition of unsafe arts (lack of work experience in junior nurses, poor patient compliance, adverse drug reactions, inadequate ward facilities); (2) unsafe supervision (inadequate inspection management, inadequate accompanying capacity); (3) unsafe arts (variability in subjective assessment, lack of bidirectional education); and (4) organizational influences (limited nursing human resources, lack of organizational process management models).

Conclusion: The specific fall risk factors among people with hematological malignancies, as summarized based on the Reason model framework, provide a theoretical basis and direction for the construction of specialized fall risk assessment tools, aiming to improve the quality of fall management for inpatients and reduce the incidence of falls.