Abstract:
Background Falls are common among older people and persons with dementia constitute an additional risk group. The aim of this study was to describe the nursing staff's opinion of caring for older persons with dementia with the focus on causes of falls, fall-preventing interventions, routines of documentation and report and the nursing staff's experiences and reactions when fall incidents occur. A further aim was to compare these areas between registered nurses (RNs) and enrolled nurses (ENs) and staff with [less than or equal to] 5 and [more than] 5 years of employment in the care units in question. Methods The study had a cross-sectional design and included nursing staff (n=63, response rate 66%) working in four special care units for older persons with dementia. Data collection was conducted with a questionnaire consisting of 64 questions. Results The respondents reported that the individuals' mental and physical im