Ghada Shalaby Khalaf Mahran^1,, Hala A Abdelrahman², Nahed Shawkat Abo-Elmagd³

Aims and objectives: investigate Current practice types of early mobilization in the intensive care units and challenges faced by nurses attempting to translate it into practice. Background: Complications associated with inactivity for critically ill patients result in adverse outcomes. Implementation of protocols requires strategies that have proven to change the behavior of nurses. Whilst early progressive mobilization is known to be safe and useful for patients in an intensive care unit (ICU), challenges still exist to its implementation. Method: A prospective survey of ICU nurses was undertaken from six ICUs in two teaching hospitals in Egypt (Assuit University Hospitals and Al-Mansoura university hospital). A total of 90, nursing staff participated. The survey was designed to investigate the current nurses’ practice type of early mobilization and challenges to its application. Challenges to early progressive mobilization were separated into five sections: patient-related, nurses-related, institutional-related, culture related and process related challenges. Results: Most reported practice types of mobilization were supine, lateral and semi-fowlers type. Patient-related challenges were generally perceived as having the greatest influence on the mobilization of ICU patients, followed closely by institutional-related challenges. The factors that were seen as preventing mobilization were most often hemodynamic instability, reduced level of consciousness, sedation, agitation, impending medical procedure, staff availability, and time constraints. Conclusions: ICU nursing staff perceived that challenges to the early progressive mobilization of ICU patients were multi-factorial and most frequently involved patients’ medical condition and resource limitations.

surveys, early mobility, agitation, challenges