Exploring Nursing Students' Knowledge of Fall Risk Factors, Preventive Strategies, and the Obstacles across the Academic Level

Background: Falling is the second leading cause of unintentional injury mortality. Nursing students who work closely with patients must be knowledgeable about fall risk and prevention. Purpose: To assess nursing students' knowledge of fall risk factors and prevention measures across academic levels and the barriers/obstacles to implementing them during their clinical training. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in spring 2024 in a private nursing college in KSA. A convenient 202 nursing bachelor students completed a fall risk factor and prevention strategy test and a questionnaire regarding the barriers.Results: second-year students knew more than fourth-year students, attributed to the training received before clinical practice. Students identified the top fall risk factors as being elderly, walking difficulties, dizziness, history of falls, and vision impairment. Key preventive measures selected by students were “placing fall signs on the patient's bed”, “installing side rails”, “helping mobility-impaired patients”, and “keeping the floor and bathroom dry”. The main obstacles to implementing these measures were patient refusal, hospital barriers, and clinical training responsibilities.Conclusion: Nursing students’ fall prevention knowledge declines at higher levels, with improvement during the internship year. Regular education is required, along with continuous monitoring of barriers to implementation.