focus on health
:::surgical care:::
Stepping Out
At Glen Cove Hospital, patients in all units are getting up and walking soon after surgery as part of an initiative to improve outcomes.
“Early ambulation helps prevent adverse effects, such as bed sores, pneumonia, muscle atrophy, deconditioning and infection,” said Angel Garcia, DPT, director of physical therapy at Glen Cove Hospital. “Studies of the consequences of prolonged bed rest show that skeletal muscle changes can be documented within 72 hours of inactivity.”
Extended hospitalization without mobility raises a patient’s mortality risk.
“We now have upwards of 90 percent of patients out of bed if not walking on the day of surgery,” said Cathy Sheerin, RN, chief nursing officer at Glen Cove Hospital. “Our rehabilitation therapists tell us these patients are experiencing tremendous gains even before they begin formal rehabilitation. They are less debilitated and better able to benefit from physical therapy.”
A Family Approach
Departments throughout the hospital are working to coordinate the early ambulation program. Physical and occupational therapists assess patients’ abilities and educate floor staff on the level of assistance needed, enabling nurses and personal care assistants to provide individualized help.
“Patients benefit the most when they can be in their own environment in their own community,” Dr. Garcia said. “We want to get them home to their families where healing can continue.”
To learn more about medical services at Glen Cove Hospital, please visit northshorelij.com/hospitals/location/glen-cove-hospital.
Prolonged bed rest leads to a variety of adverse outcomes, including dehydration, cardiac deconditioning and reduced lung function. Patients may also become more susceptible to respiratory infections and deep vein thrombosis. When patients begin walking early in their hospital stay — the same day as a medical procedure, when possible — outcomes improve considerably.
— Barry Root, MD, chair of physical medicine and rehabilitation at Glen Cove Hospital
Bed Aware
“For every day a patient spends in bed, it can take between four and seven days to regain conditioning,” said Cathy Sheerin, RN, chief nursing officer at Glen Cove Hospital.
Recent studies have identified additional benefits of early ambulation:
· Elderly patients who walked at least 600 steps by the second day of hospitalization were discharged about two days earlier than those who did not.
· Patients who walked within
four hours after a cardiac
catheterization procedure experienced significantly reduced pain than those who did not.
· Patients who got out of bed during their first day of hospitalization required intravenous fluids for shorter periods than those who did not.
