MultiCare nurses help launch systemwide mobility program
Nurses across MultiCare championed a new program in 2023 that gets patients up and moving more quickly. The #everyBODYmoves program, which originated at The Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, uses research to improve our reliability in mobilizing patients.
“What makes this program especially exciting is that it began with our nurses,” says June Altaras, executive vice president and chief quality, safety and nursing officer. “They saw a need and brought their concerns to our shared nursing leadership council.”
Immobility and bed rest are common during hospitalizations. But immobility can lead to a host of problems that may require post-acute care, delay recovery, decrease a patient’s quality of life and lengthen hospital stays.
The benefits of increased patient mobility have been well documented, but the challenge is making the practice of mobility consistent across an entire system. What makes #everyBODYmoves unique is that it uses mobility advocates — primarily floor nurses — to champion the program among their peers.
About 70 MultiCare nurses completed training to become mobility advocates. The goal is to have at least one advocate in every unit and on every shift who can reinforce the importance of patient mobility and be a resource for clinicians.
While nurses are leading the initiative, getting a patient up and moving requires collaboration among the entire staff, including physicians, physical therapists, nurse practitioners and even front desk workers who cheer patients as they walk by.
Katie Stochosky, RN, nurse and mobility advocate, sees #everyBODYmoves as a win for everyone.
“Patients win because they’re able to leave the hospital with less long-lasting health effects,” she says. “Nurses win because they are less relied upon to do activities of daily care for patients, and the hospital system wins because of shorter length of stay.”