Mobility in a cardiac surgery intensive care unit: A behaviour mapping study.

Area of Science:

• Critical Care Medicine
• Cardiovascular Surgery
• Rehabilitation

Background:

• Early mobilization within 24 hours post-cardiac surgery (CS) is associated with improved patient outcomes.
• Despite recommendations, the extent of actual patient mobility in the intensive care unit (ICU) post-CS remains unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe patterns of patient mobility in a CS ICU using behavior mapping.
• To quantify the frequency and types of mobility undertaken by patients post-CS in the ICU.

Main Methods:

• Behavior mapping was employed over a 16-hour period on four separate days in one CS ICU.
• Data on patient mobility mode, location, and support were collected at 15-minute intervals.
• Observations were aggregated into four-hour time blocks for analysis.

Main Results:

• A total of 1342 observations were recorded, with sitting in a chair being the most frequent mobility mode (430/487 observations).
• Mobility within the ICU room was common (448/485 observations), while family support was noted in 178/370 observations.
• The early morning time block (0630-1030) showed the highest frequency of mobilization (488/1342 observations).

Conclusions:

• Current early mobility practices in CS ICUs often exceed just sitting in a chair.
• Further research is needed to integrate enhanced early mobility strategies and increase team support for patients post-CS.
• The implementation of early mobility protocols requires active collaboration between researchers and clinicians for successful integration into clinical practice.