This article was first published in the Fall 2020 issue of Critical Connections.   Early mobility has been a proposed treatment for mechanically ventilated patients since the 1970s. Its benefits are reduced intensive care unit (ICU) and hospital lengths of stay (LOS) and fewer ventilator days and ICU readmissions. Early mobility is an essential element in the Society of Critical Care Medicine’s (SCCM) ICU Liberation Bundle (formerly known as the A-F Bundle) of evidence-based interventions to improve quality outcomes for mechanically ventilated, critically ill patients. The ICU Liberation Bundle is a model of effective interdependent interventions:

• Assess, prevent, and manage pain
• Both spontaneous awakening and spontaneous breathing trials
• Choice of analgesia and sedation
• Delirium: assess, prevent, and manage
• Early mobility and exercise
• Family engagement and empowerment

  Critical Connections is the critical care industry’s only newsmagazine, provides information on cutting-edge topics in critical care useful to the entire multiprofessional team. Author: Laura S. Maples MSN, RN, CCRN-KLaura S. Maples MSN, RN, CCRN-K