Aim:

Falls are a patient safety problem and cause physical, psychosocial, and economic problems in surgical patients during postoperative period. The aim of this research is to evaluate fall risk in patients in the perioperative period.

Materials and Methods:

This longitudinal research was conducted between May and August 2017, at thoracic and cardiovascular surgery clinics of a university hospital, with 50 patients who underwent planned surgery. Data were collected preoperatively, on the day of surgery and on the first postoperative day using a patient identification form and Itaki Fall Risk Scale. Statistical analysis was completed in the SPSS 20.0 program using descriptive analyses, Chi-square tests, and Spearman’s Rho.

Results:

It was determined that 48% of the patients had high fall risk preoperatively, 100% had high fall risk on the day of surgery and 82% had high fall risk on the first postoperative day. The fall risk in the surgical patients in the postoperative period was found to be higher than in the preoperative period (p<0.001). Preoperatively, it was determined that the fall risk in patients at the cardiovascular surgery clinic (78.9%) were higher than at the thoracic surgery clinics (29%) (p<0.05), and on the first postoperative day, there was a positive relationship between the fall risk and age (p<0.001).

Conclusion:

As a result of the research, it was found that the fall risk in surgical patients was high and increased in the postoperative period. We recommend that surgical nurses should take specific precautions for patients to prevent falls.

Keywords: Fall risk, nursing, surgical patient