No Time for Early Mobility?

Abstract

We know that early mobility has many benefits. Nurse-facilitated early mobility reduces incidence of delirium, improves muscle strength, increases independent functional status after discharge, and improves overall quality of life.1 Early mobility also decreases health care costs with fewer days of mechanical ventilation and shorter stays in the intensive care unit.1 The question then becomes, how do I fit one more task into my shift?That is the question that Young et al and Colwell et al seek to answer in their respective studies “Identifying Barriers to Nurse-Facilitated Patient Mobility in the Intensive Care Unit” and “Mobilization Therapy in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit: A Multidisciplinary Quality Improvement Initiative.” Although early mobility is an interprofessional responsibility, nurses have the unique distinction of being present with the patient more than any other member of the health care team. Thus nurses have the opportunity to assist patients with passive range of motion exercises, dangling legs at the bedside, or other types of early mobility at times that are convenient to both the patient and the nurse.