Nurse-Driven Early Mobility Interventional Protocol Among Intensive Care Unit in-Patients at Shoukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Center, Lahore

Abstract

The  technology  and  medications  have  improved  and  increased survival  rates  are  also  increasing  in  intensive  care  units  (ICUs). However,  prolongedimmobilization  plays  an  important  role  in negative outcomes of critically ill patients. Immobility is widely documented  in  the  literature  as  a  cause  of  increased  mortality and  complications.  Despite  the  growing  evidence  in  support  of early  mobility,  many ICUs  are  unable  to  effectively  integrate early/progressive  mobility  into  their  daily  practice.  Literature supports  early  mobilization  and  physical  therapy  as  a  safe  and effective  intervention  that  can  have  a  significant  impact  on functional  outcomes.  A  progressive  mobility  tool  may  help  to force  a  daily  structured  assessment  of  current  mobility  status, which  supports  the  critical  thinking  process  by  the  nurse  and team  to  ensure  effective  and  safe  evaluation  of  the  mobility level.  The  purpose  of  this  projectwas  to  increase  critical  care nurses’  understanding  of  the  concept  and  benefits  of  early mobility during an educational program in which a nurse-driven progressive mobility protocol was introduced. It was found that, after  reinforcement  and  educational  session  regarding  nurse driven  mobility  protocol,  the  knowledge  was  increased  among ICU nurses and they practice it in daily routine care