How I Do It: Early Mobilization in the Intensive Care Unit

Purpose: The goal of this study was to evaluate the research that focused on early mobilization of critically ill patients, with a focus on functional outcomes and patient safety. This was done in hopes of bringing awareness to the need for physical therapy earlier in the ICU. The key factor to healing was thought to be rest and high sedation so that there would be less energy expenditure. However, with this research, awareness can be made to the whole approach to healing in the ICU with early mobilization directly modifying the negative effects that may occur with prolonged immobilization in the ICU. Methods and Materials: A literature search was done on the electronic databases of PubMed, CINAHL/Nursing Medline (Ovid), and the Cochrane Library. Key search terms, “mobilization,” “exercise” and “physical therapy” were combined with “intensive care unit” and “critical lines.” Articles that were included in this review contained both prospective and retrospective data. The limitations included articles that focused on adults and published in English between January 1, 2000 and June 1, 2011. Exclusion criteria included review articles, studies of nonmobility interventions, and/or described programs or protocols designed to promote early mobilization. Sackett’s Levels of Evidence was used to evaluate the level of research.