Effect of Nurse Proactive Behavior on Patient Education for Fall Prevention in Acute Settings: A Moderated-Mediation Model

Introduction. Falls among hospitalized patients continue to pose a serious threat to patient safety worldwide. Effective fall-prevention education is considered vital for fall prevention. Nurses’ resilience and proactivity may improve the fall-prevention education nurses provide to patients, but how to motivate nurses’ proactivity remains unsolved. This study aimed to examine whether (1) nurse’s resilience and social capital are jointly associated with nurse proactivity and (2) adherence to procedures further moderates the relationships between nurse proactivity and the fall prevention education provided to patients by the nurse. Methods. A nested (∼3 patients per nurse) cross-sectional observational design has been employed in this study. 101 bedside registered nurses were recruited from fourteen internal and surgical wards at a medium-size hospital. For each nurse, ∼3 of their newly admitted patients were recruited (total of 271 patients). Nurses completed validated questionnaires on personal resilience, social capital, following procedures, and sociodemographic data. Fall-prevention education was assessed via a short-structured interview with patients. Hypotheses were analyzed using the Hayes PROCESS macro. Results. Social capital, nurse resilience, and their interaction were associated with proactive behavior. Proactive behavior, adherence to procedures, and their interaction (β = −0.57, p<0.01) were associated with patient education for fall prevention given by nurses. The moderated-mediation model was significant under medium and high levels of social capital and low levels of adherence to procedures. Conclusion. The study highlights the importance of nurse proactivity in educating patients about fall prevention, especially when adherence to procedures in the ward is perceived as low. Furthermore, nurses’ proactivity can be promoted by nurturing both their resilience and their social capital. Nursing managers should nurture proactivity at the work environment of the 21-century, by fostering resilience and enculturing social capital. Concomitantly, employees should be educated at ways to promote personal resilience and engage in wise proactivity.