SHM Converge Scientific Abstract ePoster Gallery-Move to Improve: The Effect of a Student Mobilization Curriculum on Inpatient Outcomes

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This quality improvement project evaluated an interprofessional inpatient mobility curriculum, IP 790: Advancing Patient Mobility, designed to reduce harms from hospital immobility while providing hands-on student education with minimal faculty burden. The program includes a physician lecture, physical therapy mobility demonstration, unit orientation and safety check-off, 20 hours of supervised independent patient mobilization, and a post-course skills assessment.<br /><br />Hospital immobility is common and linked to complications such as DVT/PE, pressure injuries, falls, longer length of stay (LOS), discharge to facilities, and higher mortality. The study hypothesis was that mobilization by interprofessional students would improve inpatient outcomes compared with usual care.<br /><br />From February to December 2024, students approached 334 unique patient hospitalizations for mobilization. Compared with usual care (N=5,831), the student group was younger, had lower comorbidity burden, and higher baseline mobility, indicating selection bias. Despite this, the student group showed favorable trends in several outcomes: lower composite mobility-adverse inpatient events (MAIE: 1.8% vs 3.7%, p=0.07), lower discharge to facility (5.4% vs 6.7%, p=0.08), and higher mobilization rates (82.9% vs 79.2%, p=0.08). There were zero falls during student mobilization. The student group had a longer LOS (8.1 vs 6.6 days, p=0.001), and pressure injury was slightly higher but not statistically significant.<br /><br />The course has been running since October 2024, with about 80 students per year, and is now embedded in the Doctor of Physical Therapy core curriculum. Expansion to nursing is being considered. The authors conclude that this innovative interprofessional model is feasible and may improve inpatient mobility-related outcomes, though larger studies are needed due to selection bias and nonrandomized design.

Asset Subtitle

Leonidas N. Walthall IV

Meta Tag

Author List Jingwen Zhang, Justin Marsden, Leonidas N. Walthall IV, Marc Heincelman, Meghan K. Thomas

Category Innovations

Concept Inpatient Mobility

Concept Immobility

Concept Hospital-Acquired Complication

Concept Deep Vein Thrombosis

Concept Pulmonary Embolism

Distinguished Non-Finalist

Presenter Organization Medical University of South Carolina

Presenting Author Leonidas N. Walthall IV

Track Quality Improvement

Keywords

interprofessional

inpatient mobility

patient mobilization

hospital immobility

quality improvement

student education

physical therapy

mobility curriculum

length of stay

patient outcomes

Inpatient Mobility

Immobility

Hospital-Acquired Complication

Deep Vein Thrombosis

Pulmonary Embolism