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Keywords
older adult, post hospitalization, patient safety
Disciplines
Nursing
Description
As bedside nurses in the medical-surgical setting, we prioritize patient safety, strong critical thinking, and proper medication administration; but what about patient mobility? About 65% of older adults have a decline in their ability to ambulate or perform activities of daily living (ADL) post hospitalization (Pan, Y., Thiamwong, L., & Xie, R. (2023, January); which may lead to increased discharges to rehabilitation facilities and nursing homes as well as increased chances of hospital readmission.
The mobility pilot is a nurse-driven initiative that encourages nurses to ambulate and mobilize their patients' multiple times a day. Any form of mobility has been shown to improve aerobic capacity and shorten length of stay significantly for medical patients compared to conventional care (Hook, M., Dailey, M.S., Singh, M., Shneuker, D., Mitchell, L., Milligan, K., … Kelly, L. (2024). Our goal on 8 Center is to decrease the number of discharges to rehabilitation facilities by keeping patients active during their hospital stay, with the goal to return home.
To maintain and improve patient mobility, nurses must take an active role in the ambulation and movement of their patients. This includes utilizing the 6- clicks scores, an assessment tool derived from the Active Measure for PostAcute Care (AM-PAC) used to measure basic mobility, daily activity, and applied cognition to determine discharge disposition (Warren, M., Knecht, J., Verheijde, J., Tompkins, J. (2021) as well as implementing a mobility audit to keep track of which patients should be ambulating and how often. This quality improvement project aimed to show how nurses can reduce the amount of rehabilitation admissions by increasing ambulation and mobility, promoting patient autonomy, and preserving their ADL function.
Publication Date
5-2025
Recommended Citation
Beard L, Faetz M, Wesley K, Gawlik K. Early movement leads to patient improvement. Presented at Corewell Health William Beaumont University Hospital; 2025 May 6-12; Royal Oak, MI.
Comments
Nurses Week at Corewell Health William Beaumont University Hospital, Royal Oak, MI, May 6-12, 2025.