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The Disruption of Patient Ambulation Care Processes by COVID-19: Revealing the Value of Visitor Assistance
Christa Jones-Hooker1, Deborah E Tyndall, Thompson H Forbes
1Author Affiliations: Nursing Instructor (Dr Jones-Hooker), Wake Technical Community College, Raleigh; and Associate Professor (Dr. Tyndall), School of Nursing, UNC Wilmington, Wilmington, North Carolina; and Assistant Professor (Dr Forbes), College of Nursing, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina.
Objective:
To explore the impact of COVID-19 on care processes and ambulation outcomes.
Background:
COVID-19 forced hospital leaders to make systems-level changes that disrupted patient ambulation. The impact of these changes on the ambulation of hospitalized patients was unknown. The Systems Engineering Initiative for Patient Safety model was used to explore ambulation from a systems perspective.
Methods:
A single-case study research design was used to investigate patient ambulation in a major medical center. Data from 12 interviews with interdisciplinary leaders were analyzed.
Results:
Staff shortages and visitor restrictions were identified as the main work system barriers to ambulation. These barriers disrupted usual ambulation processes and supported the value of visitor assistance with ambulation.
Conclusions:
This study provides a systems-level perspective of missed ambulation during COVID-19, which revealed the value of ambulation assistance provided by visitors. Findings may be used to support the continued and increased involvement of family members and visitors in the process of ambulation.
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