Purpose: This article reviews theoretical, empirical, and clinical evidence to support the hypothesis that pediatric patient fall episodes are rarely predictable; rather, falls and fall-related injuries occur during the momentary convergence of child, parent, and caregiver human factors, and environmental, biomechanical, and system factors.
Conclusions: We propose an interdisciplinary pediatric fall and injury prevention model to guide future research toward interventions to prevent or minimize pediatric patient falls and injuries.
Practice implications: When falls and near miss falls occur, nurses' detailed descriptions of each model component are critical to discovery of more effective pediatric fall and injury prevention methods.
© 2013, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.