Integrating Safe Patient Handling and Early Mobility: Combining Quality Initiatives.

Abstract

Safe Patient Handling and Mobility (SPHM) programs reduce staff injuries from lifting and repositioning patients. Early Mobility programs improve many patient-centered outcomes. Reframing SPHM equipment as mobilization tools can help safely mobilize hospitalized patients to their highest abilities. Combining SPHM and Early Mobility programs is logical, but to date, no one has articulated the process of integration. A quality improvement process was developed at the Phoenix Veterans Affairs Health Care System to integrate an Early Exercise and Progressive Mobility initiative in the intensive care unit into an ongoing SPHM program using the Iowa Model for Evidence-Based Implementation. Integration of these programs was possible through extensive collaboration between stakeholders throughout planning, implementation, and refinement phases. Interdisciplinary Early Exercise and Progressive Mobility simulation training, standardized assessment, communication of patient status, and appropriate equipment use facilitated staff confidence to safely mobilize patients. Successful integration of Early Exercise and Progressive Mobility and SPHM was achieved at the Phoenix Veterans Affairs Health Care System.