Standing Up to Deconditioning: A Multidisciplinary Approach to Enhancing Patient Mobilization

Introduction:
Deconditioning, the progressive loss of physical and functional capacity during hospital admission, is a well-recognized but often under-addressed risk factor for poor patient outcomes. It can lead to increased dependency, delayed discharge, and higher rates of hospital-associated complications. Despite its importance, barriers such as invasive lines, limited staff awareness, and entrenched ward routines often prevent patients from engaging in early mobilization.

Objective:
Our quality improvement project sought to evaluate whether small and simple, multidisciplinary interventions could increase patient mobilization and reduce the risk of deconditioning in an hospital ward setting.

Methods:
A multidisciplinary team including doctors, nurses, therapists, and healthcare assistants, developed and implemented a series of ward-based strategies. These included:

(1) highlighting the importance of patients sitting out of bed during morning handovers to establish expectations early in the day

(2) minimizing barriers to mobilization by reducing unnecessary intravenous infusions, intravenous antibiotics, and urinary catheters

(3) introducing sit-out charts with simplified instructions to support staff and patients in tracking daily mobilization so that we can implement early intervention

(4) displaying deconditioning awareness posters throughout the ward to reinforce the initiative.

Results:
At baseline, the mean number of patients mobilizing out of bed was 7.73 (median 7). After the first set of interventions, this improved to a mean of 14.71 (median 14). With continued reinforcement through sit-out charts and visual prompts, improvements were sustained (mean 13.14, median 14). These findings demonstrate that awareness-raising, combined with practical, low-cost measures, can achieve measurable improvements in patient activity levels.

Conclusion:
Embedding deconditioning awareness and mobility-focused practices into daily MDT routines is feasible, sustainable, and effective. These “small yet big impact” interventions enhance patient independence, accelerate recovery, contribute to safer, higher-quality inpatient care, and most importantly, reduce the length of hospital stay.