Nurses challenged to mobilize mechanically ventilated patients

Research into how critical care nurses mobilized patients in a 56-bed medical intensive care unit (ICU) at Yale New Haven (Conn.) Hospital found critical care nurses rarely were able to get intubated patients receiving mechanical ventilation out of bed. Reasons for failing to mobilize patients varied, according to a recent study in the American Journal of Critical Care. Many patients were uncooperative. Nurses also faced competing demands from other patients and had concerns about patient safety or potential adverse events. Bed rest can decrease skeletal muscles in ventilated ICU patients by 12.5% in one week and progress with each additional day of immobility. (HealthLeaders Media article, 7/2/21)