Building a Foundation of Mobility: From ICU and Across the Continuum of Care

While there is a large (and growing) body of evidence around the harms of immobility in the intensive care unit (ICU), impaired mobility and/or immobility is in fact a problem that spans the continuum of care. The term early mobility refers to the initiation of mobility in the ICU, many times while patients are still on a ventilator, and represents a paradigm shift from default bed rest orders to the expectation that all patients should be screened for mobility every day and that mobility should be viewed as being as important a “medicine” as antibiotics or blood pressure medication. Mobility should be performed early, often, and progressively across all care settings for optimal patient outcomes.

Arnold M