Ambulation of hospitalized patients: Knowledge, values, and barriers of direct care providers

The desire to ambulate hospitalized patients is tempered by their risk of falling. Research articulates the health-related benefits of ambulation, yet routinely providing this intervention is challenging. This descriptive survey-design study obtained data from consented licensed and unlicensed direct-care providers, which assessed their knowledge, values, and perceived barriers associated with routine ambulation of patients receiving care in a hospital setting. Analyses of these data conclude that the subjects were knowledgeable about and value ambulating patients. The most frequently cited barrier to routine ambulation was an inadequate staff number, followed closely by an unexpected rise in volume and patient acuity. Interventions aimed at improving the ambulation of patients should include the results of this study.