The lived experience of older adults who fall during hospitalization

This phenomenological study, using Edmund Husserl's descriptive phenomenology, explored the lived experience of older adults who experienced a fall while hospitalized with an acute illness. The topic of interest was intended to create a timeline of the antecedents and consequences of a fall in the hospital setting. Through face-to-face, audio taped interviews, which consisted of four open-ended questions and probes to facilitate discussion, 15 older adults shared their lived experience of falling. A seven-stage model was used to analyze the transcripts to uncover patterns and themes. The overarching theme was the desire for independence and patterns, which included intrinsic and extrinsic factors and sub-themes, which were bathroom related, level of awareness, emotional responses, assistance, and environment. Findings of the study and Figure 2 should increase the awareness of nurses regarding the antecedents of a fall that will then guide the development of fall and injury prevention interventions.