Nurses' Experience With and Perception of Barriers to Promoting Mobility in Hospitalized Older Adults: A Descriptive...

The purpose of the current study was to examine nurses' barriers, including knowledge, attitude, and external barriers, to promoting physical activity in hospitalized older adults. Differences between the perceptions of barriers based on nurses' experience were also examined. A behavioral framework classifying nurse knowledge, nurse attitude, and external barriers was used for the study. Eighty-five nurses were recruited from two community-based hospitals in the Pacific Northwest. The findings suggest that nurses with varying levels of experience perceive a variety of barriers to promoting mobility in hospitalized older adults. Nurses with ≤5 years of experience perceived that they may lack knowledge and training to safely mobilize hospitalized patients and make appropriate referrals to therapists. Nurses' attitudes revealed that they collectively viewed the promotion of mobility as a priority, but novice nurses did not. Further, some nurses deferred the responsibility to promote mobility to other disciplines. [Journal of Gerontological Nursing, 43(11), 22-29.].