Getting moving
Mobility, engaging with environment facilitates healing
For every one full 24 hour day spent in bed, it may take about a week to rehabilitate when you are critically ill or elderly. If you're on bed rest for five days, it can take over a month to get back to baseline.
That's why early mobility - getting people moving as soon as they are assessed for their ability to move - is an important part of care in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). If a person is unable to manipulate their legs or arms to maintain range of motion, healthcare staff will assist that person.
"Once patients are stable, we sit them up on the edge of the bed and get them moving as soon as we can," says Maurita Kiesman, Critical Care Clinical Nurse Educator at Health Sciences Centre. "There are physical benefits, because a person can lose muscle mass if they're lying in bed. The mental and psychological engagement with the environment benefits healing as well."