Effectiveness of Nurse-Led Early Mobility Protocols on the Outcomes of Critical Care Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Aim: This review evaluates the effectiveness of nurse-led early mobility protocols on key patient outcomes, including length of ICU and hospital stay, body function, mobility, muscle strength and mortality.

Design: Systematic review and meta-analysis.

Methods: This review was conducted, following PRISMA 2020 guidelines. Outcomes assessed included ICU stay, hospital stay, body function, mobility, muscle strength, and mortality. Meta-analysis using a random-effects model calculated pooled estimates such as weighted mean differences (WMD) and standardised mean differences (SMD) for continuous outcomes, and risk ratios (RR) for mortality.

Results: The pooled WMD indicated that nurse-led early mobility protocols significantly reduced ICU stay by 1.8 days (WMD: -1.813; 95% CI: -3.072 to -0.555) and hospital stay by 2.6 days (WMD: -2.622; 95% CI: -5.122 to -0.123). No significant effects were observed for mobility (SMD: -0.245), body function (SMD: 0.223), muscle strength (SMD: 0.385) or mortality (RR: 1.117). Heterogeneity was substantial for most outcomes. Nurse-led early mobility protocols effectively reduce ICU and hospital stay durations, suggesting their role in optimising critical care recovery. However, further high-quality studies are needed to determine their impacts on other functional outcomes and long-term recovery. No patient or public contribution.