Abstract
Introduction: Inpatient falls are a common problem, and it is important that newly qualified doctors feel confident in conducting competent assessments of patients after they fall. This project seeks to assess the confidence levels of final year Manchester Medical School (MMS) students surrounding the topic of inpatient falls assessments, as well as to determine whether another resource from MMS regarding this topic would be beneficial.
Method: A survey was conducted and disseminated amongst final year students at MMS through email and social media, with questions designed to address the objectives set, as well as gain an understanding of students’ prior experience and knowledge of inpatient falls assessments.
Results: A total of 70 out of 545 students answered the survey, equivalent to a 13% response rate. The results demonstrated that 70% had observed and 27.1% of students had performed an inpatient post-fall assessment. The results showed students generally were not confident in conducting inpatient falls assessments, with 17% and 39% of students self-assessing as ‘Extremely not confident’ and ‘Somewhat not confident’ respectively. 100% of students believed an additional resource on the topic would be a beneficial addition to the MMS curriculum; with the majority (60%) opting for a simulation session as an appropriate option, followed by an informative summary document (21%), an interactive online case (9%), and a lecture (6%).
Conclusions: Despite certain limitations of the project, it can be said that students generally lack confidence and experience when performing inpatient falls assessments and believe that an additional resource from MMS would be beneficial.