Assistant Director of Nursing / Educator NYC H+H Metropolitan Hospital The Bronx, New York, United States
Research Objectives: The project aimed to increase ICU patient mobility using the Bedside Mobility Assessment Tool (BMAT) early mobilization protocol for critically ill patients. Kotter’s eight-step change model was the theoretical framework and catalyst to effectuate the cultural shift within the ICU setting.
Design: This was a quantitative quasi-experimental quality improvement project that lasted over eight weeks.
Setting: The project was undertaken in a 17-bed intensive care unit in an acute care public health facility that catered to three services (Medicine, Surgery and Cardiac).
Participants: A non-randomized convenience sampling was used in participant selection, therefore every patient aged >/=18 years admitted to the unit was eligible to participate in the study.
Interventions: The Bedside Mobility Assessment Tool (BMAT) was used as the nurse-driven early mobility protocol to aid in identifying the patient's mobility level on admission and with each change of shift assessment. The color-coded mobility level assisted in eliminating guesswork on each patient's mobility status enabling the nursing team to device a strategy to mobilize the patient using the appropriate piece of mobility equipment as needed.
Main Outcome Measures: The main outcome measure was a comparative analysis done on the data for both pre and post-implementation mobility rates within a time frame of 24-48 hours of being admitted to the intensive care unit.
Results: Result: A non-randomized convenience sampling of patients was used to attain the total sample of N=306 patients (n=133 preintervention, n=173 implementation). Between the pre-implementation and implementation groups, there was statistical significance in mobilization rates observed with pre (n=56, 46%) and post-implementation mobility rates (n=132, 76%).
Conclusions: Early mobilization of critical patients in the ICU using a nurse-driven protocol with the BMAT assessment tool proved efficacious in promoting early patient mobility activities in this setting. This project should be continued and disseminated to other units.
Author(s) Disclosures: This author Judith Manning has no conflict of interest to declare.
Learning Objectives:
Upon completion, participants will be able to define nurse-driven mobility protocol.
Upon completion, participants will be able to describe the components of the Bedside Mobility Assessment Tool (BMAT).
Upon completion, the participant will demonstrate knowledge of the effects of immobility consequences and the benefits of expeditiously mobilizing the hospitalized patient.
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