Research shows that a higher risk for infection, decreased strength, skin breakdown, and even mortality all have one thing in common: decreased mobility. The consequences of low or no mobility can be detrimental to health, but there can be barriers to patients getting the appropriate amount of ambulation and activity within a hospital setting.
Laura Falcon, a third-year physical therapy (PT) student at the George Washington University (GW) School of Medicine and Health Sciences, recognizes just how important providing safe and appropriate mobility can be for patients. Falcon decided to address the issue during a clinical internship experience.
Falcon’s clinical site had recently developed an initiative to improve access to mobility for patients in the hospital. While some patients require increased assistance with mobility, and often qualify for physical therapy services, others require only minimal assistance or supervision for safe mobility and ambulation during their stay and don’t qualify for therapy. The clinical site hired mobility technicians to fill this role. However, the technicians needed proper training, so Falcon took on the task.
Falcon used her education and clinical experience to assemble a handbook that will be provided to mobility technicians to educate and guide their work. The handbook includes information on topics such as indications and contraindications for ambulation, proper body mechanics for working with patients, and education on the negative effects of bedrest.
“There is so much available research on the benefits of early, and more frequent, mobility for acute care patients,” Falcon said. “While physical therapy plays a role for many patients, some require only supervised ambulation, which is often left up to the nursing staff. However, nurses are often responsible for managing up to six or seven patients a day and may not have time to ambulate with these patients on a consistent schedule.”
The hospital hopes that a mobility technician program will help alleviate the burden on nursing staff and improve patient outcomes.
Falcon also co-led a training session for the new mobility technicians to practice psychomotor skills and to role-play patient scenarios. These scenarios included the opportunity for the technicians to practice infection-control procedures, line and tube management techniques, and other vital skills needed to keep a person safe while walking within the facility.
“The response to these training resources was very positive,” Falcon said. “We immediately received feedback that mobility technicians felt prepared to work with patients after their orientation and training experiences. I feel proud to have been a part of such a positive hospital-wide initiative that will result in more positive patient outcomes.”