Optimizing patients' functional status during daily nursing care interventions: A systematic review

Area of Science:

• Nursing Care
• Patient Mobility
• Functional Status Optimization

Background:

• Physical inactivity during illness leads to functional decline in patients.
• Nurses play a crucial role in influencing patient physical activity during daily care.
• Optimizing functional status requires interventions that increase patient physical activity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify effective nursing interventions embedded in daily care to enhance patient functional status.
• To investigate interventions that increase physical activity irrespective of the care setting.
• To synthesize evidence on nursing-led strategies for improving patient mobility and activity.

Main Methods:

• Systematic review conducted following PRISMA guidelines.
• Searched PubMed, CINAHL, and Cochrane databases (January 2002 - March 2019).
• Assessed risk of bias using Joanna Briggs Institute critical appraisal tools.

Main Results:

• Twenty studies evaluating nine interventions were included.
• Four key components (assessment, goal setting, individualized plan, patient engagement) were consistently linked to positive effects on mobility, physical activity, or functional status.
• Multicomponent interventions showed the most promise for enhancing functional status.

Conclusions:

• Integrating specific components into nursing care can positively impact patient functional status.
• Limitations include risk of bias, small sample sizes, and variable adherence.
• Future research needs rigorous methods to evaluate multicomponent interventions for stronger evidence.