Patient Ambulation Definition

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Research Analysis This is a research analysis of an article titled “STEP-UP: Study of the Effectiveness of a Patient Ambulation Protocol” by authors C. R. Teodoro, K. Breault, C. Garvey, C. Klick, J. Obrien, T. Purdue, A. Stolaronek, H. W. Wilbur and L. Matney. This article is a study of the effects of implementing a patient ambulation protocol on a medical-surgical floor in a community hospital.
Problem
The problem identified by the researchers was the lack of an effective ambulation protocol in hospitals for patients with ambulation orders. Immobility results in a plethora of secondary issues such as deep vein thrombose, pressure ulcers, and loss of mobility; these can lead to increased length of stay and costs to both patients and the …show more content…

Following informed consent, the patients were studied over a three-day period. Group assignment was determined via computer randomization program on the first day of monitoring (Teodoro et al., 2016).

Instrument Amount of ambulation was determined by recording distance traveled in steps captured with a pedometer (ShrinQ, Model 304, Sportline, Hazleton, PA). this device was clipped to the gown by researcher and not removed until study conclusion. The number of steps recorded was transcribed as an average number of steps walked per hour for designated period of the day (Teodoro et al., 2016) …show more content…

This smells sample size could limit the studies applicability to the general population. There is also a significantly higher percentage of post-surgery patients than other admission types, this could skew the results to be more representative of post-op patients than of other kinds of patients. The research only occurred on one floor of a community hospital in one part of the united states (Teodoro et al., 2016). These same results might not be applicable to other hospitals or even other floors of the same

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