Purpose This study aimed to examine the factors influencing the degree of harm caused by fall incidents in hospitals. Methods This cross-sectional descriptive study used secondary data from the “Korean Patient Safety Incident Report 2019” and was based on the International Classification for Patient Safety conceptual framework. We analyzed a total of 4,176 fall incidents between January 1 and December 31, 2019, in Korea. Multinomial logistic regression analyses were conducted to identify the factors that influence the degree of harm from these incidents. Results Among the fall incidents, 443 (10.6%) were sentinel events, 2,514 (60.2%) were adverse events, and 1,219 (29.2%) were near misses. The factors associated with sentinel events were old age (≥60 years), gender, patient diagnosis, medical department, early detection after falls, long-term care hospital, and reporters. Adverse events were significantly associated with diagnosis, medical department, nurses’ night shift time, large bed size, location (i.e., operating room, recovery room, and intensive care unit), and reporters. Conclusion Both patient and incident characteristics are significantly associated with the degree of harm in hospitals. Therefore, multiple factors should be considered to establish healthcare policies and thus prevent fall risks and minimize damage following falls in hospitals.
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Purpose The purpose of this study was to analyze factors related to patient safety incidents by analyzing '2018 patient safety report data' for Korea, and to prepare a plan for preventing patient safety incidents. Methods Analysis was done for 2018 patient safety report data’published in 2019. In 2018, 9,250 patient safety incidents were reported, and for this study data (3,757) from hospitals with more than 500 beds were analyzed. SPSS 25.0 was used for the crosstabulation analysis and multinominal logistic regression. Results There were no factors affecting the sentinel event. The main factors of adverse events were age, patient room, treatment room, day duty of nurses, falls, transfusions, and medication. Conclusion In order to prevent patient safety incidents, elderly patients should receive verbal and nonverbal communication that will help them understand the complexity of the disease. Finding ways to reduce nurse overtime and reduce human error by computerizing patient monitoring systems, fall prevention activities, and patient safety regulations and procedures are necessary.
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